Naruto: Tenshikage
by Sarakiel
Summary: Naruto is banished to the Unknown Lands to the West of Konoha. There he forges a new path for himself, a path that will make him new friends, more enemies, and a new destiny. No Time Skips, AU, Post-Sasuke Retrieval Arc
1. Chapter 1 : Banished!

Naruto sat down hard on the grass, feeling the soft wind blow through his hair. "It's not fair! How could they do this to me?" He asked himself. He checked the bandage on the wound on his leg. The villagers and quite a few Nins had felt the need to drive home the point that he was no longer wanted in the village.

He tilted his head back to reveal a dirt stained face with tears streaking down his cheeks. One word echoed in his head over and over again.

"Banished"

Naruto had awoken in the hospital a few days after failing to retrieve Sasuke. He had expected disappointment, but he had really tried his best. Even Sakura had forgiven him, had told him they'd get stronger together.

But the Village Council was not as forgiving. They had held a closed door meeting with the head of various Clans and had come to the conclusion that Naruto was just too dangerous. The first sentence passed on him apparently was death. Naruto smiled faintly at that, because Oba-san had taken one village elder and punched him through a wall and told them to pick again. She had been fired as Hokage of course, but she point blank told them that no one was going to kill Naruto. Jiraiya and Gamabunta had appeared as well and backed up that claim. Two of the Sannin staring them down had forced the council to alleviate the sentence passed, but would not convince them to back down completely.

"Don't worry Naruto, you and I shall see the world together and conduct research for my books! I have a great idea for the next one." Jiraiya had smiled when he told Naruto in his hospital bed. But Naruto could feel the desperation in his voice to make it seem not so bad.

His dreams had been crushed. There was no way he would be Hokage now. He would never make Chunnin or Jounin. He was no longer a Konoha-Nin. Period.

Tsunade herself had hugged him quietly, played with his hair and told him he'd be safe with Jiraiya. She cried quietly for his lost dreams. Sakura stood shocked in the corner and said nothing. Her heart broken completely, tears pouring down her face. Her team was completely dissolved now. Her best friends. One run away, one forced away.

Naruto could not stand it.

Early the next morning, he had heard the footsteps in his room, knew someone had come to kill him. He seriously considered letting them do it, but instinct took over and he rolled to the side to avoid a Kunai being stabbed into the hospital cot. Several voices of alarm were raised as Naruto dashed out the window to safety. Several weapons were thrown at him, none hit. A particularly well aimed Kunai though pierced his thigh. Glancing down Naruto could have sworn the person who threw it was one of his teachers from back at the academy.

He had no time to wait for Jiraiya, who was still sleeping off the previous nights activities. Naruto Uzumaki left Konoha with nothing except the hospital gown he was wearing.

With a sigh Naruto wiped the tears from his eyes and stood up. He tugged at the civilian clothes he had stolen off a clothesline at a farmhouse not far from Konoha. He glanced back in the direction of Konoha. He supposed eventually Jiraiya would catch up to him. But Naruto had no idea when that would be, and it was far more likely that some other Konoha Nin would find him first. Naruto was not the smartest ninja around, but he was no fool. Waiting was not an option.

Naruto headed into the wilderness, putting one foot in front of the other and did not look back again.

* * *

Naruto was lost, he knew that. Clearly there were no people around for miles, a large series of mountains stared back at him. Two months had passed since he left Konoha; he had not met a single Konoha nin since leaving. Naruto had long since stopped crying. Jiraiya had not found him either, but Naruto did not blame the ero-sennin. He had been keeping away from villages and people; staying in the wilderness. He had found a few things to help him.

Once he had come across a slaughtered caravan of merchants. Bandits had probably done it. But they had overlooked a few things. Naruto found some decent fitting clothes, even if they were white and not orange like he preferred. White boots, white pants, white t-shirt and a white coat. Naruto thought he looked like a ghost, but shrugged. It fit and it kept him warm.

He had also found a few kunai. By found of course, he meant embedded in the dead bodies of the caravan merchants. After cleaning them he had put them in a satchel he had recovered from an overturned cart.

Living off roots, berries and captured live animals was easy enough for a trained ninja. But Naruto had no real purpose; he had kept walking in a straight line. Never wavering.

And now here he was, staring at this mountain range in his way.

"I wouldn't go up there if I was you. Heh heh"

Naruto spun around at the raspy voice. A decrepit looking old man smiled back at him.

"People die in those mountains, that's the Pathway to Heaven and Hell kid, don't' you know that? No one goes there." The old man, clearly a hunter, put down his catch of 3 rabbits and sat. He sighed and pulled out some sticks and began to build a fire.

Naruto's hand still grasped the Kunai behind his back warily. This was the first person to talk to him in two months. It felt, odd. And dangerous.

"Hungry kid? Eat with me, it gets awful lonely out here if you stay long enough." The man invited him

Naruto eyed him warily but sat, hands still holding the Kunai.

"Ah. A kunai? Nice. So you're a Ninja? Kinda far from home aren't you? We're in the middle of nowhere."

"That's exactly where I want to be." Naruto said calmly. He didn't think the man meant him no harm; he clearly had no idea who Naruto was.

"Where you from Kid?" The trapper asked as the fire roared to life. He didn't even look at Naruto as he arranged two rabbits over the fire to roast.

Naruto thought about lying, but saw no real point to it. "Konoha"

"Wow. That's a hell of a long way from here kid, you trying to circle the world? " The man seemed to laugh at his own joke and leaned back on his backpack. His eyes locked on Naruto's for a brief second with an intensity that hadn't been there before.

"We're all running from something kid. I don't care what your reason is. But going into those mountains is suicide. Most people who have even heard of it are deathly afraid of them."

"Why?" Naruto asked intrigued by the old man's tone of voice.

The old man chuckled. "They're called the Pathways to Heaven and Hell. You're at what many people call the edge of the world. On the other side of the mountains is a limitless ocean. But these mountains? Oh they're a nasty piece of work." The man poked the rabbits, turning them to cook on the other side.

"Legend says that travelers who go in these mountains are either sucked into the depths of hell, or pulled into the waiting arms of heaven. Either way, none have ever gone in and come out." The old man laughed aloud. "None but me that is! Hahaha"

Naruto stared at the old man. He was clearly a bit on the crazy side. "So how did you escape?"

The old man smiled at Naruto. "Well, you're the first person I've met in over ten years out here. I'll tell you because this secret is too good not to be passed down." He chuckled softly. "I used to teach at a school in a far away land before the wander lust took me. I wanted to see the world. I traveled for twenty years before I saw these mountains. My insatiable curiosity drove me to enter them. Suddenly the ground beneath me gave way. I managed to grasp onto the ledge of the cave I was about to fall into. The light that shone in showed me nothing but blackness. I pulled myself out and watched as the ground shook and the hole sealed shut."

Naruto stared wide eyed at the man. "Was it? Was it a doorway to hell?"

"Hahaha" The man laughed, then coughed. "No, it was an underground cave that was exposed due to shifting tectonic plates. This 'edge of the world' is a huge fault line. That sort of thing is very common."

"Oh" Naruto drooped his shoulders disappointedly. "But what about the other part? Pathway to heaven?"

"Ah. Well after that I decided to be more careful of my movements. I took my time and climbed the mountain. I discovered something truly amazing. The path to the island in the sky." The old man erupted into bales of insane laughter.

Naruto stared at him. _Yup, crazy._

The old man wiped away tears from his eyes. "No no really! I stepped into a narrow gully and an incredible river of wind grabbed me. All of the world's wind starts from somewhere and goes to somewhere. That's the rules of nature. But I was unprepared. This here, the edge of the world, is where the wind goes! Ha-ha. It picked me up, picked up a few boulders too, and threw me up this gully. It was like a barrel of a gun! I was shot into the evening sky right into some clouds!"

Naruto stood up angrily and pointed at him. "You're lying old man! No one could live through that!"

" I am not! I was blasted through a cloud! And what did I find? I didn't' come crashing back down to earth…oh no. I was on an island in the sky! The density of these clouds is such that it is solid like land. The results of millions of years of wind and debris being flung into the atmosphere. There is dirt, boulders, even trees up there. You don't' believe me? Go see for yourself!"

"You're lying ! How could that be! And how did you get back down?!" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief.

"Ha. I was trapped up there for months before I found it. If there is an updraft, there has to be a downdraft too. Imagine a river of wind that is constantly flowing down. This one is much gentler thankfully. It was like sliding down. I landed not far from where I went up. "

Naruto scowled at the crazy old man. "Even if I believe this, how did you survive up there that long?"

"Kid you're really starting to bug me. I told you it's always flowing. There are birds, animals that clearly had been thrown up there too. Some really rare one's too. There's water from rain that has collected into a small lake. There are clouds higher than that one. It's just like normal land, except it's an island in the sky."

Naruto sat back down and studied the old trapper. The trapper handed Naruto a now cooked rabbit and took one for himself. "My Name is Livingston by the wkay."

Naruto bit hungrily into the rabbit. "I'm Naruto. Can you show me how to get to this Island?"

Livingston chewed and laughed heartily. "Kid, I'm old now. If I tried to make it back home I'd die before I got there. I sense my time is close. I'm an explorer. But what goods an explorer if no one ever knew you were here, if you even existed." The old trapper cried. "Showing you will validate my existence kid. I'll take you tomorrow."

Naruto nodded. He understood Livingston very well.

* * *

"There it is kid" Livingston had barely made it up the hill they needed to climb to get to the wind channel he described. He was indeed very old, and feeble. Truthfully he needed Naruto to help him get even this far. With Naruto's help, it had taken them the better part of the day. Naruto looked around; this was a very hard place to find. The rocks were jagged and the terrain unforgiving. No one would willingly come along this path it looked like it led nowhere.

Naruto could see it. Somehow he could feel the wind in this place, the extreme power it held. He wondered absently if he could ever match the power of such wind force.

"What do we do now?" Naruto asked Livingston.

Livingston laughed maniacally and for a feeble old man seemed to have gained a sudden burst of energy. "Jump in the river fool!" With one last laugh, Livingston jumped into the gully and Naruto stared amazed as an unseen force lifted him and rocketed him through the gully, and up into the clouds covering the mountain ahead.

Naruto shrugged and adjusted the strap on his satchel. He jumped in and felt the cushion of air as it caught him. It wasn't sudden, his fall slowed down and then gradually he was pushed then rocketed towards the sky.

He felt an exhilarating rush as the mountain sped past him he saw in the Wind River a couple rabbits had been caught and were spinning around madly. The sky loomed before him and he was shot up into the clouds, riding the river of air.

The river punched through the clouds and Naruto ended up on his backside sitting on a hard piece of cloud.

"Gotta work on that landing kid." Livingston laughed at Naruto.

Naruto stood up and looked amazed at his surroundings. They were standing on what had to be a large mass of clouds. It was white and seemed to be in the general cloud shape. But it was definitely solid ground. Naruto saw that Livingston was standing on what could only be described as a beach. Sand formed a ring around an actual island of dirt, trees, grass. It looked like perfectly normal land, except for the clouds that it was perched on.

Naruto grinned and laughed. This was too amazing to be true. Livingston smiled at him and pointed to the sun. See over there kid? By that oak tree? That's the point where you go down. I found a few other wind rivers but they seemed to go off into the distance around the world. I think this is the center of all wind in the world kid. Where everything comes and goes."

Livingston fell to his knees and clutched his chest. "Where all things come at the end of things."

Naruto leaped over to the old man and caught him before he fell backwards.

"I'm so glad fate had us meet Naruto. I did not have the strength to come back to my beloved sky island myself. And…and I want to be buried here. My life was not always a pure one, but I want to be buried here. As close to heaven as I could possibly get." Livingston coughed and smiled at Naruto.

Naruto had no idea what to do; he wasn't a med-nin. He just held onto Livingston while he breathed his last.

"The sunset from heaven is like nowhere else kid. Don't miss it ok?" Naruto nodded and shed tears for the first person to show him kindness in months.

He sat there, holding the slowly breathing Livingston until the sun set and his chest stopped moving.

* * *

Naruto stood back from the marker he had just placed on the grave of Livingston and hoped it would be good enough. He had used his kunai to carve his name in a piece of wood he had found. "Livingston, discoverer of Heaven"

Naruto sighed and turned back to the desolate island. His mind raced. _I have nowhere to go, no one to go to. Nothing to guide my life. But…I have a place where no one can ever find me._

He stared at the sky which really seemed much closer now, and wondered what his next step would be.A steady stream of rain began to beat down on him. _I guess I can't sleep outside forever. I should probably build a shelter. Can't be living in Tengoku(Heaven) and not have somewhere dry to sleep._

Naruto stopped in his tracks. _Tengoku. That's a good name for this place. _

With a shrug, Naruto set about making himself more comfortable in his new home.

* * *

After a week in his new home Naruto decided the place he built was as best as he could do with his limited skills. There were a lot more animals than he could have thought possible trapped on this sky island, so he had no trouble for food. Naruto did his best to map out the island in his head in that time. It was large, mostly even terrain. It did indeed look as though it had been here since the dawn of time.

Naruto had also found many items that had been blown up by the wind. Things seemed to collect where the wind died down, on a small hill towards the center of the island. He had found several scrolls of a mostly useless nature, shoes, clothes, a wig, a few weapons he recognized like kunai and swords and a few he didn't. Naruto even found money among the items.

He smiled at his good fortune but realized he had nowhere to spend it, even if he wanted to. Naruto frowned, he didn't want to spend his whole life as a hermit. He needed a plan.

He fiddled with the weapons he had found for himself while he looked across the island. _Well, I'm a banished Ninja. Maybe I can earn money doing Ninja stuff? That's what Konoha does after all._

He thought to himself. _The question is how do I start?_

Naruto had no idea how to proceed. But he did know one thing, now he had a home to come back to, so things didn't seem so hopeless anymore. He would need to leave Tengoku for a while, but he'd come back for sure. Besides, he couldn't find any ramen in the wind heap.

The following morning, Naruto packed up his satchel with kunai and food, and headed out. He saw the tree that Livingston had pointed out and felt the air currents swirling around it. Naruto stepped into the stream and felt himself pulled down into the Wind River. He felt the experience of flying down from the clouds; his body completely weightless as the wind rushed him at an angle to the ground.

Naruto almost panicked at the speed that he was going, but the wind curved until he was running almost parallel with the ground, just one hundred feet in the air, Naruto felt his feet brush the tree tops and his heart raced with the exhilaration. The wind slowed down gradually and he managed to jump out of the stream and land smoothly in a clearing.

He grinned widely as he looked back where he came from. The cloud with Tengoku was so high up, and looked like any other cloud. Completely hidden from the world.

Naruto set out to make a life for himself, knowing he had a home to come back to.

* * *

_3 days east of Tengoku_

Naruto was walking across a vast savannah of low lying grass, when he saw something in the distance. As he walked closer it looked like a giant birdcage with a vulture in it. The closer he got to it, the more like a person the bird in it resembled.

It was a man. Naruto came close to the cage after looking around to make sure no one was in the area. His ninja senses could detect no one. He peered into the cage.

The man looked half dead. His face cracked and dry, his eyes closed. His black mane of hair was long and disheveled. He had on black clothes that had long been covered in dirt and grime. A trail of dried blood went down one arm.

With a start, the man's eyes opened and he yawned. He glanced at Naruto. "Came to finish me off did you? I told your boss already that I will not tell him where the treasure I stole is, so he may as well give it up. I'll haunt him and kill him as a ghost so do your worst."

Naruto was too stunned to speak . He just took a step back.

"Well come on? Aren't you going to…" the man looked at Naruto properly and then stood up in the cage, his hands gripping the bars.

"You! You're not one of Lecher's men are you?" He sounded almost pleading.

"No." Naruto replied. "But maybe I should get going…" Naruto didn't want to get caught up with a thief, he turned his back to go but the man called out to him.

"Wait! Set me free kid! I'm an innocent man wrongly being punished for a crime I didn't commit!" The man said boldly.

"You just said you stole some treasure." Naruto replied dryly.

"Well yes, but that's not a crime if the initial treasure was stolen to begin with is it?" The man grinned.  
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Senjii Makato, the greatest swordsman in the world."

Naruto stared at him dumbfounded, what a statement to make.

The man nodded towards a nearby tree. "See my sword over there? The bastards couldn't even be bothered to take it, make sure it's well kept. Just left it out here to rust."

"They also left you here to die you know." Naruto stated incredulously. The man seemed more upset about his sword.

"Eh. I'd have gotten out, but it rained three nights ago and the sword need to be wiped down! This is an original Hattori Hanzo sword. It would dishonor me greatly if it were allowed to rust."

Naruto nodded, he understood now. "You're mad aren't you." He turned to walk away.

"No wait kid! Wait! You appear before me, dressed all in white like an angel sent to save me. It must mean something. I truly am the greatest swordsman you will ever meet. If you do me this favour, I shall owe you my life. I will forever swear my sword as yours." Senjii looked at Naruto and grinned widely and innocently.

Naruto frowned. The man could be a liar and a thief. But Naruto couldn't just leave him here to die. Could he?

As he thought about it, he heard the faint sound of hooves in the distance. Senjii heard it too.

"They're coming back to finish me off kid. Thanks, but you better get out of here for your own safety." Naruto was stunned at the difference in the man's voice and attitude. His voice had become steely and serious. Naruto's mind was made up in that instant and he started to form a Rasengen, his shadow clone appearing next to him to help him complete it.

"A ninja." Senjii said as he stepped away from the lock. Naruto slammed the Rasengen into the lock and it blew apart.

Senjii stepped out and fell shakily to his knees. "If you're a ninja, paying back my life debt just got a hell of a lot more dangerous." He pushed himself to his feet and glared at the approaching horsemen. "Excellent, I hate when life gets boring. Do me a favour and let me deal with these guys? I owe them a lil something"

Senjii lunged for his swords as an arrow whizzed by his head. The horsemen were upon them and Naruto leapt away from the fight. He looked on from a nearby tree as Senjii engaged the six riders.

Senjii grasped his sword and with a flick or his wrist sent the scabbard flying off the sword and towards the first rider. The point of it was clearly sharpened because it went through the man like a spear. Five riders and one rider less horse now bore down on him

He rolled to the side and parried a swing from one of the riders. With a sudden twirl, his body pivoted in midair. His sword was a blue blur as it sliced the air. Almost faster than Naruto could follow, Senjii planted his foot on the ground and sprung back into the middle of his attackers. To them it probably did seem like he disappeared.

In an instant Senjii stood with his back to the riders, his scabbard back in his hands. He slowly slid his sword into it. As if on cue, the riders fell from their horses, spurts of blood spraying upwards.

Naruto was actually impressed. The man was not just full of talk. He was indeed a good swordsman, at least the best he'd ever seen.

"Ahh…" Senji sighed. "That felt good. Payback you punks." He looked around for Naruto.

"Hey kid, you got any sake? I haven't had anything to eat or drink in a week." Senjii grinned widely and Naruto smiled back. Senjii then promptly fell to his knees and collapsed in the dirt.


	2. Chapter 2 : First steps

**

* * *

**

Chapter 2

**First Steps**

Naruto prodded the fire with the stick in his hand. The distant howl of a coyote the only other sound other than the crackling of the small campfire. He glanced across at the prone body of Senjii, the swordsman he had set free yesterday. The man's face looked peaceful as he rolled in his sleep, both hands clutching his sheathed sword to his chest.

Naruto frowned, yesterday he would have hazarded a guess that Senjii was an older man, but his face had seemed to drop years of worry when he got his sword back. He looked to be no older than twenty, twenty five maybe. A young swordsman with a very high level of skill, Naruto thought.

"Ahh." Senjii stretched out with a groan. "That was a good nap." He glanced over at Naruto, his black eyes boring into Naruto's steel blue.

"So what's your name My Lord?" Senjii asked with a grin.

Naruto's mouth dropped open. "Wha…what?"

"Well I owe you my life, so my life is now yours." Senjii smiled as he sat up and rubbed behind his head. His eyes closed as he chuckled. "It's my honor at stake you understand."

Naruto blinked three times then shrugged. "I'm Naruto. Uzimaki Naruto."

"Well then, my Lord Naruto." Kenji stared at Naruto intently. "Where are we going and what's the plan?"

Naruto looked back at Senjii and grinned. He had been thinking about it ever since leaving his new home. Naruto had grown up alone and didn't' want to spend his entire life that way. It was time to make a start. "Well, I'm starting my own village. I plan to get jobs a Ninja would get, and get the money I need to build my village."

Senjii stared at Naruto with his mouth open for a full minute. "You're serious aren't you my Lord."

Naruto grinned nervously. "I know it's a lot to do, but I think if we took it one step at a time we can do it. I never give up! That is my ninja way!"

Senjii stood up and paced, pausing to glance at Naruto every now and then. Naruto seemed almost oblivious to this as he went about cooking dinner.

"Fate has certainly led me to an interesting companion." Senjii muttered. "My Lord…" He began.

Naruto cut him off. "Please, call me Naruto? That my Lord stuff just sounds weird." He made a face and went back to the task at hand.

"Ok" Senjii sat back down with a thump. "Your goals are amazing and worthy. I will dedicate myself to helping you achieve them."

Naruto looked up and grinned. "Thanks Senjii"

Senjii smiled back. "So where are we going to build this village?"

_Five minutes later_

"Kenji come back! It's all true I swear it." Naruto shouted at the angrily storming off Samurai.

Senjii stalked into the forest, looking to sit alone and quietly for a while. _My new Lord is a madman. What a cruel fate to befall me, the best swordsman in the world_.

* * *

**Konoha**

Lee stood looking at the rising sun. For weeks now he had stared off in that direction, the direction his friend Naruto had been driven off into. No one had seen or heard from him since. Lee had tried talking to Sakura about it, where would Naruto have gone? But she could barely form words to speak. She had cried for several days. Lee himself had cried, _sorrowful tears of youth_, he insisted. Such cruelty at the hands of the villagers they were sworn to protect. Lee could not understand it; could not believe it.

Of course, the retribution of Naruto's friends had been swift. Tsunade had sent Hiashi Hyuga to the hospital with a broken skull, ribs and spine. It was doubtful any of the Medical ninja there could heal him. In fact only Tsunade might have been able to, and she flat out laughed and refused. She had then teams up with Jiraiya and found every ninja and villager who had run Naruto out of Konoha and beat them all within an inch of their lives.

Kakashi had run into a few who were laughing at what they did the next day, and from the stories Lee heard Kakashi's wrath was something to behold.

The council had elected Danzo to be the new Hokage. Many had been disgusted with the politics, but the undercurrent of the village was that Tsunade had been too forgiving to the beast that was Naruto.

Lee sighed as the sun shone glared at Konoha. It was his own imagination he was sure, but it felt like the universe was judging them, and not in their favour. Tsunade, Shizune and Jiraiya had left the village. For good it seemed. Jiraiya had spit on his hometown and vowed he would not return. He set off looking for Naruto. No one knew where Tsunade had gone.

Kakashi had been reprimanded. The new Hokage had sought to flex his influence over him. Kakashi smiled, pulled out his book, and threw his hiiate to the ground at his feet. He had resigned as a Konoha Ninja, choosing to go live quietly in his house and read his books.

Lee stretched preparing for his five lap warm-up jog around Konoha. He could not sit here and do nothing. What had happened was not fair. It was not right. He would talk to Sensei about it.

* * *

Naruto stared at the city sprawled before them. It had taken a few days for them to reach the city. It was at least three times as big as Konoha, Naruto decided, and the towers seemed to be taller than any he'd ever seen. Naruto could see some huge boats coming into dock, their sails billowing in the wind. People hustled about oblivious to each other, focused intently on whatever purpose drove them today.

Senjii sighed. "Welcome to Carachii. The city where anything can be found, bought, sold, stolen. The city of Sin in the West."

Naruto just nodded absently as they looked down from their vantage point on a hill on the outskirts of the city.

Senjii continued. "IF you want to earn money doing Ninja jobs, this is the place to come. Lots of missing Nin come here to vie for the freelance jobs that exist. But…" Senjii paused and smiled. "You need to first prove yourself to the overlords that you can handle the jobs, and would be able to get them done."

Naruto turned to look at Senjii. "How do you go about doing that?"

"Easy," Senjii replied. "You enter the Kumite. You fight the best fighters from around the globe. Ninja, Samurai, Monks, Street Fighters. Everyone comes here just to prove themselves and make a name. The ones who get noticed get jobs. Simple."

Naruto nodded. The First had explained to them that the Chunnin exams were pretty much for the same reason. So this Naruto at least understood.

"Well then, I have a contest to sign up for." Naruto grinned at Senjii, who smiled wickedly right back.

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The ringmaster s voice boomed into the microphone. Naruto sat in the bleachers with a hundred odd other fighters. Senjii himself had also signed up. Naruto had no idea the contest would be this soon, starting only the day after they arrived. But he was glad he didn't have to wait long.

He tugged at his white shirt and sighed. He missed his orange.

"Welcome to the Kumite!"

Drums sounded all along the grounds as thirty drummers with rope tied around their heads and drums strapped to their shirtless bodies pounded out a fast rhythm. The crowd in the stadium went wild. The Kumite was big business to Carachii apparently. Thousands of people filled the stadium to look at the action.

"You all know why you're here! To see who is the best! Our reigning champ? Is he the best? Is it……Guerreraaaaaa?" The announcer dragged out that last name to thundering screams and applause from the crowd. A huge hulk of a man stood up from the bleachers and waved at them. His entire head was wrapped in a mask.

Naruto swallowed, hard. The man's biceps were bigger than Naruto's head. He really hoped he didn't have to fight him just yet.

"Without further adieu, our first matchup for the day is…." And so the matches began. Naruto looked on in amazement as the first few matches went on. These fights were not child's play. There was no referee. There was no draw, or conceding. You fought until someone was either dead or knocked out. Those were the rules. Naruto frowned at the brutality of it all, but a part of him relished the idea of beating someone to a pulp. Naruto realized he had a lot of anger pent up, and this would be the first fight he would have had since he got run out of Konoha.

"Next up! Naruto Uzumaki vs Paul Laureate'."

Naruto walked into the center of the ring and waited for his opponent to arrive. A Caucasian man who had a funny spring in his step.

"Fight!" The announcer shouted.

Naruto blocked as his opponent kicked at his head in the blink of an eye. Naruto was shocked at the man's speed. He was easily as fast as Rock Lee. Before he had time to think, Naruto was swept off his feet by a spinning ground sweep. Laureate kept the momentum of the spin and brought his other leg sweeping around to catch Naruto in mid air. It connected with a satisfying thud, but to everyone's surprise, Naruto just vanished in a puff of smoke.

From the ground Naruto launched himself at Laureate'. Unfortunately for Naruto, this was no Chunnin match. Laureate saw him coming and stepped back just enough to avoid the uppercut. He then spun and kicked the real Naruto flying. Naruto landed with a thump in the dust to the cheering of the crowd.

Naruto recovered quickly and quickly formed the seals he needed. "Kage Bunshin!" with a loud puff, one hundred clones covered the Arena floor. Laureate looked puzzled for a second then smiled acknowledgment at Naruto. With a nod, Naruto's clones and Laureate launched at each other.

What happened next was a blur of dust, blood and puffs of smoke. But in the end Naruto was down to only twelve clones, and Laureate' lay unconscious in the dust.

"Winner! Naruto Uzumaki!"

The crowd cheered for Naruto. He smiled and wiped the dust from his eyes. Something about thousands of people cheering you on a few months after an entire village tried to kill you and banish you; it just seemed to soothe Naruto.

Sanjii's fight was next, and it astonished Naruto how quickly it went. Sanjii had just appeared behind his opponent in a red flash. He was putting his sword away as blood spurted out of his opponent. Seriously wounded but not dead, Sanjii explained. There was no honor in killing for no reason.

Naruto grinned. His new friend was a great fighter, and a decent person. Something Naruto had come to value. He made a mental note to ask Sanjii how he moved so fast later that night.

Just as the sun was setting and Naruto was thinking all the matches for the day were done, the stadium lit up with fire from hundreds of torches. Sanjii who was sitting next to him leaned in and explained.

"There is no rest, no sleep. We fight until only one is left standing. "

Naruto nodded.

* * *

"Naruto Uzumaki vs Romero Aguila!"

Naruto moved to the center of the ring and looked on as a man with a metal mask over the front of his face and two short swords in his hands leapt all the way from the bleachers to the center of the ring. Naruto whistled, that was a good jump.

"Fight!"

Naruto wasted no time this time around, and attacked first. He launched a series of kicks and punches that were all easily dodged by Romero. Romero shrieked like a girl and Naruto could see the two short swords swinging. They put two shallow cuts on his forearms. He drew back and contemplated his next move. Those swords would be a problem.

Romero shrieked again and dove at Naruto swords first, twisting in mid air to simulate a corkscrew. Naruto rolled to the side and came up with two clones on either side of him. One clone rushed in to fight and distract Romero, while Naruto and his other clone formed a Rasengan.

Sanjii watched in fascination for the second time as Naruto created his ultimate Jutsu. Once it was complete, the other clone leapt into the battle. So the clones were attacking from left and right, while Naruto lunged down the middle.

The tactic partially worked. Romera took the Rasengan to hi midsection and went flying backwards, but he seemed to be twisting with the movement, and ended up controlling the impact of it. Romera landed on his feet at the edge of the ring. With a shriek he jumped back in the air, high above Naruto, arcing down, his legs preparing for a final kick on Naruto.

Naruto was stunned, no one had ever been able to take a Rasengen and shrug it off. He rolled to the side again and in desperation threw a brace of kunai at Romera. Romera knocked them all away, left right , up, with his swords and kept coming after Naruto, slicing right into him.

With a puff of smoke, the last visible Naruto in the ring vanished. Romera looked to the ground again waiting for Naruto to spring out of it. His eyes darting left and right, head tilted down, he did not see the last kunai he had parried into the air come hurting back down to him. Nor did he see when it changed back into Naruto and kicked him at the base of his skull.

"Winner Naruto Uzumaki!"

Sanjii smiled and shook his head sadly at the same time as Naruto, exhausted, took his seat next to him.

"You've very clever Naruto. But cleverness will only get you so far. You must become stronger if you want to form your own village."

Naruto's eyes glared at Sanjii. He wanted to be mad, but he couldn't. He could see the logic of what he was saying.

"Aren't you ninja's supposed to have an affinity? I've encountered some of you before and usually you have a specialty. Fire, water, Ice. I've seen many versions of this. But you've not shown anything like that." Sanjii's eyes casually took in the next match while he was talking to Naruto.

"I don't know if I have an affinity." Naruto responded. "Sensei never really spoke to us about it." Now that he thought about it, Naruto realized that Sanjii was right. Sasuke had been able to use lightning jutsu, so clearly he had a lightning affinity. Naruto wondered absentmindedly how he'd find out if he had any leanings towards a certain type.

Sanjii as if reading his thoughts muttered to him. "In battle we always find new strengths. Try something new and see if it works out for you. If not, well then…" Sanjii laughed a little. "Then you'll just lose."

Naruto stared straight ahead, ignoring the small laughter. _I do not lose._

* * *

Sanjii had progressed again, defeating a nunchuku user in what was a surprisingly long bout. Well, long for Sanjii as it took over thirty seconds. During the last hour of fighting thought Naruto had been sitting with his eyes closed, forehead furrowed in concentration. It wasn't often that Naruto could sit quiet for so long and think.

"Naruto Uzumaki vs Leopard!" Naruto opened his eyes and walked into the center, the night breeze blowing cooly against his skin. He looked up and saw a gust pick up leaves and sweep them around.

Naruto's eyes opened wide and he looked back down to his opponent. A grin spread across his face, _worth a shot right?_

He leaped into the ring and landed in a small puff of dust. Anticipation coursed through Naruto. He was about to try something new, and that always got his juices flowing.

Leopard was a wiry man, with markings on his bronze body that resembled the great cat he was named after. His back was arched forward and his limbs looked a bit longer than they should have. Naruto's eyes assessed his opponent. _Well, he does look the part._

"FIGHT!" The MC commanded and stepped away.

Leopard did not advance, he instead growled quietly and walked sideways, sizing up Naruto.

"You're little parlour tricks will do you no good here Ninja." A low guttural voice spoke. Leopard seemed to want to talk before he fought. "My style is unbeatable, especially for a kid such as yourself."

Naruto grinned. After enduring lectures from Sasuke and Neji on how inferior he was, this guy's words had absolutely no effect on him.

Naruto cracked his neck, then rushed in. He lunged at the man, pulling out a kunai as he ran. Leopard sprang towards him, baring his sharpened teeth and holding his fingers like claws. Naruto threw a punch, that was neatly blocked. A slash from leopard razed Naruto's arm and he swiveled to try a kick. He found his leg caught in midair and he was thrown high up. Leopard jumped up to kick him, but Naruto formed a Kage Bunshin in midair that pulled him out of the way.

Naruto landed a few feet away as Leopard came back down. In that pause in time before Leopard landed and would be able to attack again, Naruto decided he was going to try his idea.

He put both hands palm forward, keeping his elbows at his side and drew as much Chakra as he could to them. It all happened in a split second.

Leopard Landed.

Naruto pushed his hands forward, trying to force the Chakra out if his palms.

Leopard looked wide eyed as something hit him in the midsection. A blast of pure energy had exploded out of Naruto's palms, in the shape of a large, ever expanding wave. It radiated outwards, moving swiftly out and away from Naruto.

He stood there in shock as he saw Leopard flung backwards an impossible distance. But more than that, was that the shockwave didn't slow down. As it hit the stands where spectators and fighters alike were sitting, there was a sharp cracking of stone and splintering of wood. The stands blew up like a stack of toothpicks, debris and dust flying everywhere. Naruto could see some fighters and even a few spectators had leaped clear of the blast, but most hadn't.

Naruto fell to his knees, breathing heavily. _Ok, too much chakra in that one, and I don't think it took the form of wind like I wanted._

Pandemonium reigned for a few minutes as people struggled to free themselves from the broken seating. Naruto sat in the ring, looking worried. He really hoped no one had been hurt.

Senjii just sat in the good section of the stands and looked thoughtful. Naruto had in one move destroyed a quarter of the stadium. Senjii smiled at the thought that his new leader was that powerful, but he frowned when he realized he was that powerful but had no idea how to control it. That blast was clearly not intentional. It was just raw power.

Senjii made up his mind to ask a friend of his to come help train Naruto. It was a long shot, and the man hated Ninja, but it was all he could think of at the moment.

The announcer nodded at his staff and walked back to the center of the ring. He looked incredulously at this young man who had so easily…

He cleared his throat.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner of this match is Naruto Uzumaki!" A great roar of approval and cheering went up from the remaining crowd. Naruto was a bit stunned. People were still climbing out of the ruins, but these people didn't seem to care. _I guess it's that kind of place, every man for himself._

"Also, since we need to clear the area of bystanders, debris and a few bodies probably." Naruto shuddered at that, had he hurt anyone? "The matches are suspended for one day."

The mc looked down at Naruto. "Kid, can you try not to damage any more of my property when we resume?" He grinned widely.

"You're not upset?" Naruto asked.

"Hell no. When people hear about what just happened, I'll have more patrons at the continuation of the Kumite. Its good for business to have insane levels of power and fighting, its what the people want to see." He snapped his fingers, and Naruto saw a large guy pick up Leopard and fling him over his shoulder. He walked off to where Naruto knew the infirmary was.

"Hey Naruto!" Senjii called out. "You hungry?"

* * *

"Wow. " Senjii whistled low. "You sure can put those away." He gestured to the empty bowls of Ramen.

Naruto smiled as he slurped down his tenth bowl. "Well, it's not as good as Ichiraku's but it's pretty good all the same. And I haven't had ramen in a while."

A few patrons in the Ramen bar were looking at Naruto and whispering. Senjii chuckled.

"Well, I'd say you've succeeded in making a name for yourself. Every man, woman and child within miles of here now know your name, and that you can single handedly wipe out an army if you wished."

Naruto almost choked. "An army? Umm…it was just a Jutsu that I tried on the spot. Its not exactly…"

"Not exactly what?" Senjii smiled. "Complete? Yeah I could see that. But damn if it wasn't horribly powerful."

Naruto frowned into his bowl of Ramen. "It wasn't anything like I wanted. I was trying to use Wind Jutsu. I just wanted a gust of wind to blow him away."

Senjii laughed aloud. "I'd say the effect was the same. But you're right, that wasn't wind. That was pure energy." With a sigh Senjii continued. "Listen, I have a friend who knows about ninjutsu arts. He's not a ninja mind you, just a very knowledgable person. I think we should go talk to him when you're done eating. He could probably point you in the right direction."

Naruto's eyes lit up and he tilted the bowl back and drank it all in one gulp. "Done! Let's go! We only have one day before the fights start back!"

* * *

"Oi!" Senjii called out. "Old man! You still alive in there?"

Naruto looked on as Senjii banged on an old wooden door. A walled off compound with stone carvings of elephants and strange looking people with four or more arms adorned the pillars around the door.

"Senjii? Is that you?" A voice from within the compound replied.

Senjii grinned. "Yeah its m..."

Before Naruto could blink the doors were opened and a fist had knocked Senjii to his back on the ground.

A grizzled old man, with dark tanned skin stared down at Senjii. A glare on his face, his robes fluttering in the wind.

"I guess you're still mad about the thing with your daughter." Senjii said from the ground, not trying to get up.

"Mad? If you were not my brother's student at one time you'd be dead right now. My only daughter!"

Senjii grinned. "I guess I'm lucky, if she was here she'd have killed me herself."

"You certainly picked the wrong woman to leave at the altar." The old man nodded. His face softened and he extended his hand to Senjii, to help him up. "Even if I do understand the reasons, she's still me daughter. You understand?"

Senjii smiled sadly and nodded. Naruto made a mental note to ask about that exchange later.

"Naruto," Senjii turned to him and smiled. "This is Sensei Tenchi Shiritori." Senjii turned to Tenchi.

"Old man, this is Naruto Uzumaki. My new nakama. And the man I've sworn allegiance to for saving my life."

Tenchi looked between the two. "Sworn allegiances are not to be taken lightly. But neither is a life debt. I hope you honor it properly Senjii."

He turned to look at Naruto, sizing him up. "So you're Jiraiya's student's son."

Naruto's jaw dropped, Senjii did a double take.

"What?" Naruto asked. _Jiraiya's student?_

Tenchi nodded. "The fourth leader of your village, Minato something or the other. I met him once when he was travelling with Jiraiya. He had to be your age I guess. You look exactly like him. So unless you are him and have learned an age defying, death defying Jutsu, you're his son."

Naruto rocked back. His mind couldn't process any of this.

Tenchi looked at him and seemed to make up his mind about something. "Ok come inside. We will talk away from the prying eyes and ears of the street."

* * *

"Old man, Naruto here needs to learn to control his power. His obliterated a quarter of the stadium today." Senjii said with a chuckle. "You should have seen it."

Tenchi with his back to them, was making some tea on the stove. The quiet trickle of water from the garden was a sharp contrast to the fighting they had seen just a few hours ago.

"I didn't need to see it, I felt it." Tenchi turned back and brought the tea tray and rested it down before Naruto and Sanjii.

"Aww, no sake?" Senjii groaned. Tenchi squinted and backhanded Senjii across the face. Senjii flew across the garden and landed underneath a small fountain.

"No alcohol in my house." Tenchi said calmly. "You know that."

He turned back to Naruto. "So what questions do you have for me?"

Naruto grasped the teacup in his hands, threatening to shatter it with his grip. He had so many questions.

"My father was the fourth?" was all he could manage to say.

Tenchi cocked his head to the side, "So they didn't tell you? Odd. He's a hero know to many around the world." He shrugged. "Doesn't matter much though does it? You are who you are regardless of parentage."

Naruto looked up incredulously at him. "Doesn't matter? I had a father who was a hero! But then why," Naruto's hand subconsciously touched the seal on his stomach. "Why would he do this."

Tenchi's eyes grew very serious and he stared at Naruto. With a start his eyes snapped wide. "You're THAT Naruto! The vessel."

Naruto nodded ashamed. Tenchi grinned and came at Naruto.

"Thank you. Every day you save so many lives, it is an honor to have you in my house." Tenchi grasped Naruto and gave him a bear hug, squeezing him tightly.

"Um.." Naruto had never met with this reaction before. Most people were scared of him. "You're welcome? But how come…"

"How come I'm not scared? Because I know about the seal and what it does. I know how hard it must be to maintain it, the effort, and the sacrifice you must go through. Not many could handle that responsibility. You are saving the world every day. Countless lives could be lost in a blink of an eye if your prisoner was to escape." Tenchi sighed and looked to where Senjii was getting out of the fountain.

"His father was killed by the demon you know." Naruto looked stricken. He saw a wet smiling Senjii approach and was scared. When he found out he would shun him like everyone else, the one friend he had made since leaving Konoha.

"Senjii, this is Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha, the jailer of the Demon Fox." Tenchi said matter of factly.

Senjii stopped in his tracks and his eyes grew steely. Naruto saw a range of emotion cross his face. Sadness, anger, hurt. He wondered what Senjii would say.

"Naruto, you…you keep that blasted fox locked up?" Senjii asked slowly.

Naruto nodded, afraid of the outcome of this discussion.

Senjii looked at him then got down on one knee. He drew out his sword and extended it across his palms at Naruto.

"The oath I took once is not strong enough. My debt to you will never be repaid. My sword, my life, is yours. I shall protect you for eternity, this life and the next. On my word as a Samurai, on my soul. I do swear it." Senjii had tears streaming down his face as he spoke.

Naruto did not know what to say. Senjii got up abruptly and walked off, around the corner of the garden for some privacy.

Tenhi looked sadly at him go. "I hope you understand how much that boy will do for you now. His parents and baby sister were slaughterd by that fox when he was not more than five years old. He survived on pure luck. He hates the demon, but he knows there is no way to kill it."

"So how can I help you Naruto. Ask anything of me."

Naruto looked into his tea. He forced all the thoughts about the demon, his father and Konoha to the back of his mind.

"I need to learn what my affinity is, and I want to get stronger. Strong enough to build my own village. A village where no one is persecuted or hated. Where everyone can live together in peace."

Tenchi sat down and sipped his tea. "You certainly dream big. I can help you with the first part easy enough. That tree over there is fed Chakra, or Chi, so just pick a leaf and hold it in your hands. It will tell you what your affinity is."

Naruto got up and walked towards the oddly pale brown tree, which stood out in the lush garden of greens and flowers. He pulled a leaf off and held it. He turned to show Tenchi, the leaf had split in two.

"Wind." Tenchi said simply.

Naruto stared at the leaf. _My affinity is wind, and I found a place to live hidden in the clouds, accessible only by wind. The gods might not hate me that much after all._

"So now you need to understand what wind can do." Tenchi rose up and gestured for Naruto to follow him. They walked into his house, and into a large training room.

"This is a chakra room. The walls cannot be damaged by any form of chakra, the wood is made from that tree you saw outside. So fire, water, wind; it doesn't matter what is directed at the walls, roof or floor, no damage will be done." Tenchi walked to a wall and pulled down a sword from a rack of weapons.

"I don't know how its taught in Konoha, but in my clan, Chi skills are taught with a weapon." Tenchi threw the sword for Naruto to grasp. He took one look at how Naruto held the sword and took it back.

"Nope, clearly not a sword user." He turned back to the wall and pulled down some nunchaku, with the same result.

Narutu spoke up. "But I've never used these before, couldn't I learn?"

Tenchi did not turn to look at him while he was picking the next weapon. "I have no time to teach you to use something you are not born to use. Everyone has one weapon, one style that fits them perfectly. It would be easy, flowing, for you to learn to use that." He picked up a wooden staff and threw it at Naruto.

Naruto caught it easily and held it at his side. Tenchi squinted his eyes. "Ok, you're a Bo staff user."

Naruto felt the staff in his hand, it did actually feel pretty natural. The hard oak staff was slightly longer than he was, but it felt perfectly balanced in his hands.

Tenchi smiled. "This makes things easier. The basics of Bojutsu is that it's very similar to hand to hand combat. So the moves can apply to unarmed as well as armed combat. I've no time to train you on the art, but I can show you how to channel your chakra into wind. The rest is up to you. If you survive the Kumite, and I'm more sure of that now than anything else, then you will come here for me to train you in Bojutsu for exactly six months. Is that clear?"

Naruto frowned, but nodded. Six months was a long time to postpone his plans. As if reading his thoughts, Tenchi shook his head.

"Your goals are admirable, but until you're stronger you cannot attain them. You must see the logic in this."

Naruto sighed, and gave in. Tenchi was right. Naruto needed to become strong enough to be Kage of his own Village, he was nowhere near that level now.

"By the way, I didn't even ask, where do you want to build this village you dream of?" Tenchi asked as he guided Naruto to the center of the dojo.

Five hours later, Naruto still swung the Bo. His hands would have blistered already if he didn't have the healing power of the Kyuubi.

Tenchi watched him sweat and work. So Naruto had found Livingston and the Island in the Sky. Tenchi had met the man once and liked him. A sincere human being. A faith in a place that no one else believed in. Tenchi had much to think about as Naruto built up the Chakra in his staff and swung it, releasing a burst of wind.

Senjii sat in a corner and watched on in satisfaction. Proud of his association with Naruto.


	3. Chapter 3 : Wind

**Chapter 3 **

**Wind**

Naruto and Senjii took their seats in the stands allocated for the fighters. The previous day no one had paid Naruto any attention. Today was a different day. All eyes were on his, some angry, some curious, others delighted. It was the delighted ones that worried Naruto.

He saw the face of one particular fighter whose eyes were locked on his, his mouth open in a feral grin, salivating. That one seemed to be trembling with excitement at the thought of fighting Naruto. Naruto swallowed, hard. It was the reigning champ who was staring at him.

They sat down and looked around the stadium. The master of ceremonies had been right. Far from being emptier, the stadium was more packed. Every seat was filled, and the area where Naruto destroyed the day before had been replaced with makeshift bleachers that strained under the weight of hundreds of people.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we continue the Kumite!" The MC screamed, to the delight of the fans.

Naruto held tightly onto the Bo staff in his right hand, base resting just on the outside of his right foot. He tried his best to remain calm, but this was just too exciting. He had a new technique to try out in actual combat. Naruto couldn't wait. If this worked, he'd be on his way to getting stronger, strong enough to fulfill his dream.

* * *

**_2 hours later_**

"Naruto versus Victor Karas!" The MC shouted. The crowd was immediately in an uproar. Many people had come hoping to catch a glimpse of the power they had heard about or seen already yesterday. Naruto's opponent walked into the middle of the arena, and waited.

Naruto sighed, and clenched his fist around the Bo staff. He rose and bent his knees. He sprang from the bleachers into his starting position in the middle of the field. A small circle of dust surrounded him.

Naruto held onto his Bo, pointing straight up and resting on the ground next to him like a pole. He breathed in and out deeply. Preparing his Chakra.

"Fight!" the MC shouted then ran off the field, clearly not wanting to get caught in any kind of backlash.

Victor Karas was a middle aged man with scars over most of his body, he had clearly seen years of battle. He sneered at Naruto. "What you going to do with that stick boy?" He drew a sword from his waist. "I'm going to slice that toothpick then peel the skin off your bones."

Naruto smiled, at least he didn't have to worry about hurting a good guy. He lifted the Bo and held it across his body, palms extended. Victor charged at him, but Naruto wasn't playing. He wanted to use this move immediately, couldn't hold the chakra build up in anymore.

He brought his foot forward and pushed his right hand forward quickly, flicking the Bo towards Victor.

Victor Karas, even though he was still a good twenty feet away from Naruto, felt as if someone had hit a sledgehammer into his side. He went sprawling into the sand.

He got up and spit out a bloody tooth. He grinned. "Is that the best you got?" he laughed.

Naruto looked puzzled then smiled. "No. I was just getting into position." Victor stopped laughing.

The crowd was deathly silent, waiting.

Naruto gathered his Chakra and exhaled, feeding it into his hands, and then the Bo. He raised it and jumped forward landing in a crouch. Naruto brought the Bo down in a sharp swing, slamming the end into the dirt. "Tenshi Sutoraiku " He shouted. An arc of wind followed the path of the Bo, shooting like a shark's fin along the ground unbelievably fast towards Victor Karas.

He had no time to jump out of the way.

The wind hit him full on and he stood there taking it at first. The wind shredded his clothes; flung his hair back and spread eagled his arms. He screamed into the maelstrom as his grip on the ground couldn't hold anymore and he was flung backwards. He hit the wall of the stadium and the wind kept battering him.

There was a sharp crack and a huge gully was etched into the stone wall of the stadium where the wind hit it. In a matter of seconds, it was over. Victor Karas fell in a heap to the ground. The section of the stadium that was hit creaked loudly then split in two, the left half sliding sideways slightly.

Naruto stood up and grinned. It had worked perfectly! He could hear Senjii shouting from the stands. "That's right! That's how we do it! Woo hoo! Go Naruto!"

The stadium erupted in applause.

"Winner! Naruto!"

As Naruto took his seat next to a smiling Senjii, he saw several people approach them. Senjii stopped them with his eyes and put out his palm. They nodded at him and one by one, pieces of paper were slipped into his hand. They then turned and left.

Naruto looked at him puzzled, and he whispered in response.

"Jobs. You've proven yourself more than enough to get the interest of several people who want jobs done. So we go through their requests and see which you want to do."

Naruto looked excited. "But I thought I had to win for people to notice?"

Senjii laughed. "Naruto, in two strokes you destroyed your opponent, and cut the stadium in half. I think people will notice you. People far and wide will notice you."

Naruto's eyes glazed over for a second, a million thoughts going through his head. Would Konoha find out? Would they be proud or would they hunt him down? Would his friends even care?

* * *

Senjii's next fight was against a fellow swordsman. It was a majestic sight, more like a dance than anything else. His opponent's face was mostly covered except for his eyes. A long red scarf flowing behind him as their swords clashed in the sunlight.

Senjii's black suit was looking the worse for wear as the fight wore on, slices appearing in the material. Of course his opponent had them as well, with small cuts and drops of blood for good measure.

After fifteen minutes of this, the MC's voice cut in. "Fifteen minutes! Would the combatants like the option of Anshitsu?"

The two swordsmen stopped and stepped away from each other. They both nodded. In a flash, the scarfed opponent had pushed his scarf up over his eyes, tying it tightly. Senjii had pulled out a kerchief and did the same, effectively blinding himself.

Naruto's mouth dropped open. What was he doing! But he could see Senjii's feral grin as he grasped his swords tightly and crouched. Anshitsu means Dark room, so they'd be fighting blind Naruto guessed.

The crowd became hushed to the point where you could hear the gravel shifting under the fighters' feet. Senjii and his opponent - Murusaki something Naruto remembered – slowly circled each other. In a flash, they rushed each other, and like before the swords clashed, the ringing of cold steel sending shivers down Naruto's spine.

It took a few more minutes, but Naruto could see Senjii was getting the upper hand, the cuts on his opponent were getting bigger, while Murusaki was scoring less hits on Senjii.

There was a quick series of clashes then it was over. Murusaki had leapt back several feet, clutching his left arm. Blood oozed between his fingers from where Senjii's sword had slashed him. Senjii stood back and smiled contentedly.

Murusaki raised his hand and gave a signal to the MC. He had forfeited.

"Winner, Senjii the Dark Blade!"

Naruto grinned. His friend had a very cool nickname. He watched as Senjii walked over to the MC and spoke to him. The MC nodded and spoke again.

"Due to damage inflicted in this match, Fighter Senjii will not continue in the Kumite." The crowd seemed slightly disappointed.

Senjii walked over to where Naruto was and sat down. Naruto turned on him. "Why did you drop out? You were winning every match!"

Senjii turned to look at him with a tired smile. "Well, I don't know if you noticed, but there are only four of us left. Which means I'd have to fight you in a few minutes. I could probably hold my own for a while, but I really don't want to be on the receiving end of your Wind Strike. We've got several jobs lined up and I need to recover if we want to do them."

Naruto nodded. His friend was very practical. That was good, Naruto thought, because I'm very impulsive. Would my unpredictability slow me down in being a good leader? From starting my own village? Naruto shook his head, now was not the time for such thoughts.

With Senjii out of the fight that just left the reigning champ Guerrera and his opponent, a small man who used a weird animal style martial art that Naruto had seen before, but not to this extent.

Naruto had only one word to describe the match. Brutal.

Guerrera was the fastest person Naruto had ever seen, despite his huge size. He practically rammed into his opponent, as the man was about to fall backwards though, Guerrera had grabbed his arms and thrown him into the air. He had then leapt into the air and somehow gotten the man's arms behind his back, and his legs hooked. They came crashing down to earth, the small man underneath a pushing Guerrera. They landed with a sickening crunch.

The masked champion got up and walked away, not even looking back.

"Winner Guuuueerreerraaaaa!" the MC articulated. "We will break for five minutes then the final match will begin! Naaaarruuuuto versus Guerrreerraa!"

Naruto felt the nervous energy build up inside him. He'd soon be fighting for his life against a much stronger opponent. He smiled and turned to a similarly smiling Senjii. "I feel so alive right now."

Senjii nodded at his friend, leader, and kindred spirit.

* * *

Naruto stood in the middle of the arena, looking at how huge Guerrera was. His hand tightened on his Bo staff.

"Fight!"

No sooner had the MC shouted those words and moved out of the way had Guerrera catapulted his huge mass towards Naruto. Honestly if Naruto hadn't been expecting it, he would have been bowled over.

Unfortunately for Guerrera, he had been expecting it, so all Guerrera hit was a Shadow Clone. It vanished in a puff of smoke. Four Naruto's erupted from the ground around where Guerrera stood. Guerrera growled and brought his hands together with a loud clap. Naruto's eyes bulged as he saw familiar signs being formed, although with slight differences. Lion, Bear, Boar…was that an Ox?

With a grunt, Guerrera doubled in size. He went from a towering seven feet tall to a massive fourteen foot giant. His muscles seemed to take on a harder quality. Naruto's eyes squinted. The man looked slightly armored at this point. He could see why he was feared.

The four Naruto Clones took their position and raised their staffs. As one they all performed the same move as before.

"Tenshi Sutoraiku " They shouted in unison. Four staffs slamming into the ground. Four arcs of air racing to Guerrera.

The masked fighter jumped impossibly high, straight up. He avoided all four blasts and landed back where he began. The Narutos frowned and prepared for another move, when Guerrera blasted his way towards one of them. With the smash of a giant fist, one clone dissipated.

Naruto began the move for another Tenshi Sutoraiku, but before he could take the first step, the other three clones were destroyed and Guerrera was behind him.

"You move too slowly young one." Naruto swing the Bo, but too late. He was backhanded across the face. Naruto spun madly around a few times before landing in a heap not far away. He blinked his eyes open, thinking he'd never felt a punch like that before.

He looked around; his Bo was by the feet of Guerrera. With a smirk, the fighter stepped on it and smashed it in two.

Naruto stood up slowly. His face becoming a mask of rage. "That Bo was a gift." Anyone looking closely would have seen his pupils become slits and his whiskers become deeper. What everyone did notice however was the waves of Killing Intent rolling off of Naruto. The spectators became silent as the anger became palpable. Even Kenjii shuddered at the foul feeling he could practically taste coming from Naruto.

Guerrera felt it too, and a smile split his face. "Finally you're getting serious. Come little one, show me what you can do."

Naruto growled and charged his speed much faster than before. A white blur closed the distance between the two. Guerrera's eyes opened wider behind his mask. Naruto's punch connected with his gut, the force of the charge, plus his Kyuubi enhanced chakra sending Guerrera flying. Before he could land, Naruto was under him on all fours.

With a growl Naruto kicked him skyward. He leapt upwards to catch Guerrera in mid air.

In a blink of an eye though, the masked fighter had twisted and grabbed Naruto in a body lock. It felt like a vice to Naruto, who struggled to break free.

"Foolish. Grappling is my art. I hope you survive this, you fought well."

Guerrera twisted Naruto and himself so that he was in a sitting position in mid air and Naruto's head was between his legs. They began to spin madly as they plummeted towards earth. Naruto panicked, this felt very much like Lee's Lotus, and he didn't want to feel that impact.

He struggled against the hard muscles of Guerrera, his Kyuubi chakra pushing his body its limit; he started to feel his grip loosening, but too late.

Wish a crash, Guerrera planted Naruto head first into the ground below. There was a collective wince from the crowd, followed by rousing cheers and jeers for the reigning champion.

The MC walked over to where Naruto lay and Guerrera stood over him. Naruto was out cold, a small trickle of blood running down his nose. He was still breathing though, so the MC nodded at Guerrera.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner of this Kumite! Guuueerrrreeerrraaaa!!!!"

The crowd roared its approval while Senjii rushed out to the middle of the arena to collect Naruto.

* * *

_**One Month Later**_

Jiraiya drank his sake quietly at the end of the bar. His expression kept most people away from him, the one or two who had ventured close enough to bother him had felt the brunt of his bad mood.

He had seen nor heard no trace of Naruto for months. He had left Konoha so far behind that most people in these areas had never even heard of the Fire Country.

Jiraiya had no more interest in the loose women he had before, no more time for frivolities. Life had lost its taste and bitterness had taken hold. His charge, the only living relative of his student, the boy he had begun to train had been run out of his home. Jiraiya scowled, if only he could find him, he could take care of him, raise him properly.

"…that Naruto sure was powerful though, those wind attacks were really something."

Jiraiya almost choked on his sake as bits of conversation from down the bar floated towards him.

"Yea, too bad he had to face that giant Guerrera in the finals. I think he would have won against anyone else." One of the two men talking replied.

Jiraiya moved towards them unnoticed.

"No one can defeat Guerrera. It's impossible. That kid though sure was something. I'd hate to go up against him in a fight myself."

Jiraiya stood behind both men and clamped his hands down on the back of their necks. A genuine smile crossed his face. His first clue.

"Gentlemen. I believe we should have a talk over some sake."

* * *

Naruto eyed the small stone flying through the air, his eyes narrowing to slits to focus on it.

"Kaze Senbon!" He said as he sent a single needle of wind racing towards the stone. Not for the first time, he missed completely.

Tenchi looked on with severe disapproval on his face. "You must focus on the object harder Naruto. Finesse comes with much practice."

Naruto scowled. " I've never thrown a real senbon before. So how am I supposed to throw a wind one? I've only ever thrown Kunhai!"

Tenchi looked down at Naruto and shook his head. "Naruto, you relied too much on your staff in your match with Guerrera. What if you are disarmed? You need to be able to create your own weapons with your hands and wind chakra. The easiest one to start with is Senbon! If you can't even make this work, we can go no further." With that he turned and walked away from Naruto, leaving him looking at his new sensei's back.

Naruto picked walked over to the pile of rocks and picked up a handful. He threw them in the air and formed the Wind Needles and threw them again. Missed. Again…

Jiraiya looked on from the shadows as he Naruto tried again to hit the stones. His face was serious as he considered several options. Naruto had found a new teacher, granted the man was not a Shinobi, but he could not have found a better substitute.

"It has been long since you graced my house Sennin." Tenchi stepped out of the shadows behind Jiraiya.

Jiraiya did not turn around, "How is he doing Tenchi?" He asked with genuine concern in his voice. He watched Naruto struggling with the Senbon, determination in his eyes.

Tenchi rubbed his chin and sighed. "He's a brave young man. He has a lot of heart Jiraiya, and he has a goal. He fights and strives to reach that goal. I think he will go very far."

Jiraiya shook his head. "You know what I meant."

"He's at a crossroads. He could go either way. Who he becomes will depend greatly on the six months I think."

"I would like to be involved in his training." Jiraiya spoke up. "There are some Jutsu of Minato's he should learn, as his birthright."

Tenchi nodded. "Whenever you are ready to introduce yourself, do it. But I'd rather you wait until he finishes his exercises for today. I think he's finally starting to focus."

They watched as Naruto hit three stones with Wind Needles, splintering them into dust. He let out a whoop and jumped around celebrating. Jiraiya smiled sadly. So much spirit for someone banished from his home, so much heart.

* * *

Sakura stared at the gates of Konoha. Everyone else thought Tsunada had left weeks ago but there she was, her duffel bag slung over her shoulder, Shizune walking behind her. They had disappeared, but clearly hadn't left as yet.

On an impulse, Sakura ran towards her. Tsunade had come because of Naruto, she shouted at herself in her head. She too believed in him.

"Mistress Tsunade! Please wait!" Sakura shouted as she ran up to them.

Tsunade turned to face her, her face softening as she looked at Sakura. She knew Naruto had a crush on this girl, that they had been friends and teammates. She cursed inwardly though, if only she had left weeks ago, but she needed the research papers she had found, and some items she wanted that were hidden away. If she ever saw Naruto again…

"Sakura?" She asked with just that name.

"Tsunade, I have a request. Please?" Sakura's eyes welled up with tears. She closed them hard and sought the courage. "Please, take me with you."

Tsunade rocked back on her heels with surprise. "What? Why would you want to come with me?"

Sakura sobbed. "I'm weak. I…I've lost two teammates...two friends." She sniffled then rose her head resolutely and looked Tsunade right in her eyes. "I will find them. I will save them. I need to get stronger, and only you can show me how."

Tsunade stared dumbfounded at Sakura. She had no intention of going to look for Naruto, she was just going to her secluded hideaway house for a while until Jiraiya found the boy. No real plan, certainly not being a sensei to anyone.

But Sakura's plea reminded her so much of her own state after Orochimaru betrayed them, and Jiraiya went off hunting for him. In fact, it was like looking in a fun-house mirror and seeing yourself decades younger. Her mind processed it for a full minute before she turned her back on Sakura.

"I'm walking east, I hope you can pack fast and catch up to me soon apprentice, I will not wait for you."


	4. Chapter 4 : Speed

**Chapter 4**

**Speed**

Naruto stood at the line that Jiraiya had drawn with chalk on the grass. His eyes burned as sweat rolled down into them. The midday sun beat down mercilessly on Naruto, Jiraiya having found himself a nice piece of shade to watch the training from. Naruto scowled at his mentor and friend for a second, then looked back at his target, a chalked Kanjii written on a stone one hundred meters away.

He held his breath for a second and then let it out with his effort. "Hiraishin no Jutsu". Naruto knew what he wanted to do, he wanted to appear where the seal was. An instantaneous teleportation of himself across space.

What actually happened was far from it as he once again found himself at the correct spot, but missing his clothes.

"Gah!" with a yelp he attempted to cover himself with leaves. Jiraiya grinned, _he's getting the hang of it. At least he's not leaving behind his hair or limbs._

"Come on boy! Can't you do better than that?" Jiraiya called out. His joy at having been reunited with Naruto a weel ago still flowing through him. He had found him healthy, and working hard to fulfill a new dream. Of course, Jiraiya could see the sadness in him, but hoped that that would ease over time.

Naruto let out a few choice curses he had picked up, and ran back to where his clothes had fallen, back at the starting line.

As he pushed the white pants on, then the white t-shirt, he looked forlornly at them. "Sensie, really no sign of any orange jackets or pants anywhere?"

Jiraiya chuckled, "Not yet Naruto. I ordered some new clothes for you, but it will take another week to be ready. Plus we have something to discuss that might affect your choice of clothing."

Naruto finished putting his boots back on then stood up. "What's that pervy sennin?"

Jiraiya grinned, nothing would spoil his mood. "Well, since you already know about your dad, and you would have by the time you finish learning the Hiraishin, have learnt two of his Jutsus, I thought I'd give you a chance to surpass your dad. Maybe even me."

Naruto's eyebrows shot up so high they threatened to merge with his hair. "What?! How?"

Jiraiya pushed himself up from under the cotton tree and walked over to where Naruto stood. His eyes squinted from the glare of the sun. "I will take you to Myobokuzan. It's time you learnt the sage arts." Jiraiya's eyes grew dark. "Those fools at Konoha may have denied you a chance to become Chunnin, or Jounin, but a Sage trumps all of those and then some." His smile beamed at Naruto. "Not many Kage's would even dare mess with a Sage."

Naruto's mouth gaped open. His mind whirling rapidly._ If I could become a sage, I'd be respected. Respected enough to form my village and protect it and everyone in it._

Naruto grinned and refocused on his target, breathing in his chakra.

Jiraiya nodded, "Remember, Destination, Determination, Deliberation. The key words for this technique."

Naruto glared at the spot he wanted to go to. "Hiraishin no jutsu!" He appeared at the spot, this time only missing his shoes.

"Yatta!" He shouted and jumped up.

Jiraiya shook his head. "Now do it one hundred times, then do it without saying it out loud. Doesn't do much good to move at the speed of light if you have to stop to talk for two seconds first."

"Wait," Naruto shouted. "How does me becoming a sage affect my beautiful orange?"

Jiraiya threw back his head and laughed. "Orange doesn't really match with the flame coat you earn as a master of the Sage arts. Its white and red."

Naruto cocked his head to the side in a humorous display of being in deep thought. "We'll see pervy sennin. We'll see"

* * *

Senjii whistled as he sharpened his sword. He had finished one of the missions he and Naruto had gotten. So far there had been no need to interrupt Naruto's training for any of them. Simple enough escort jobs, one or two retrievals from kidnappers. Nothing Senjii couldn't handle. He sat in the bar and ran the stone over his blade again as he waited for his client to come by and pay.

The crowd in the rundown bar was typical of the waterfront establishments in this area. Senjii was all too familiar with them, having spent part of his life on the sea. The patrons didn't even spare him a glance. Not that his swords wasn't majestic, just that everyone else was armed in some form or fashion as well.

The client sauntered in, a sickly smell of perfume on the obese man wafting its way towards Senjii making him grimace. His clothes were matted yet would have been more elegant on someone of a thinner or less greasy stature.

"Ahh…Senjii the Dark Blade." He flittered into the bar stool next to Senjii. His hand dipped into his jacket and withdrew an envelope.

Senjii took it cheerfully and glanced in it. He had no need to check the money, if the man double crossed them he'd pay soon after, he knew that. Plus in a town like this one, a man who doesn't pay for his odd jobs didn't live very long.

"Have you heard Senjii? The pirate Torino has set his sights on our fair port city. I myself will be moving inland to avoid the conflict."

Several heads shot up. Apparently eavesdropping was also the norm for this city.

"Did you say Torino? The pirate captain of the Blood Armada?" One man asked. They now had the entire bar's attention.

Senjii's fat client lapped up the attention. "Why yes. My sources say he would be here by nightfall. That's the problem with being such a successful town, it attracts riff raff." He haughtily looked down on the patrons of the bar. "Well I guess I'll be…"

A knife embedded itself in his throat and he gurgled and choked on his own blood. "Riff raff huh?" One of the sailors in a far table got up and retrieved his knife, pulling it hard out of the dying man. "I don't like your face." Several men laughed then went back to drinking. A few others got up to leave town before the pirates got there.

Senjii looked thoughtful, not even noticing his dead ex-client. The job had been completed anyway. But he'd heard of this Pirate, and things looked bad for the town if what he said was true.

* * *

Lee ran hard, his legs pumping as fast as they could go, _497¸_ his mind told him. Three more laps to go around Konoha. His body felt like it was on fire, yet he pressed on. His thoughts however were still far away, no matter how hard he tried to not think about certain things.

His talk with Gai sensei had been enlightening. No one had seen or heard from Naruto in months. The closest had been a rumor with someone with his name in a Martial Arts tournament halfway around the world. The new Hokage did not care what happened to Naruto. He had apparently confirmed that if Naruto died, so does the Kyuubi. So he and the Council hoped Naruto would die in the wilderness. If not, well he never was that skilled a Ninja, he would pose no threat.

Lee passed the gates at a dead run. The seal. Gai had told Lee how the seal kept the demon at bay, that Naruto was in fact the Jailer and the prison, not the demon himself. How could the people be so blind? The people he was sworn to protect?

_499_

The seal. Lee wondered if he could read more about seals in the Konoha Library. It sounded interesting, how could something written have so much power?

Lee saw a glimpse of a pink flower and thought of Sakura. She had abandoned the village as well. Her parents had said she was visiting with her Aunt in a distant city, but Danzo had not been pleased. They were short staffed with Ninja as it was.

Hokage Danzo seemed to want to declare war on the nearest Hidden village and expand Konoha's influence. He had already sent emissaries demanding they surrender or face the wrath of Konohas Ninja force.

Lee shook his head. No. He could not attack someone who had not attacked him first. But what choices did he have? Not for the first time he wished he knew where Naruto had gone. Was the world outside the walls of Konoha as exciting as he imagined it to be?

_500_

_I need to get much stronger._ Lee focused on sprinting his last lap. _When Naruto comes back, I may need to help him stand up to the Hokage._ Lee didn't even notice he thought 'when' Naruto comes back, not 'if'.

* * *

Kakashi stared at the frog sitting on top of his precious book. The words that came out of the frog had startled him. So Jiraiya had found him. Good. A huge weight lifted off Kakashi's shoulders. At least Naruto was alive.

Kakashi looked out his window at the sky. Naruto is training with Jiraiya and another. Sakura had gone training as well - a slug had told Kakashi the day before where she had gone off to.

He was now a sensei with no students. No longer a Konoha Nin. Danzo needed to make an example of him, the copy cat ninja the only threat to his title of Hokage.

Kakashi sighed, he could leave the village, but where would he go? This was home, even if the people in his home were becoming less and less worthy of protecting.

* * *

Naruto lay panting staring up at the night sky. He could do the Hiraishin, but not more than twice without feeling exhausted. He also could not do it non-verbally yet. He grinned to himself. At least it was a start. _I can learn any Jutsu in one week, like I did with the Rasengan. _

Jiraira lay not far away, snoring off the effects of the ten bottles of Sake he had laying around him. Naruto snorted and closed his eyes. Just for a minute….

Boom.

The sounds of Cannon fire awoke Naruto. His eyes shot open and he jumped off the ground. Jiraiya too was on his feet, eyes scanning westward. Naruto looked as well and could see that the city was on fire. Dark ships had filled the bay and cannons kept up a steady stream of fire into the port city.

"Pirates" Jiraiya said quietly.

Naruto started to run towards the city. "Senjii and sensei are there still!" Jiraiya just stood and watched as his protégé ran off. He frowned, those ships looked familiar. Something about their sails.

Naruto sprinted down the cobblestone street, rushing against an onslaught of smoke, dust and panicked people. Women and children screamed as the walking wounded made their way out of the city. Naruto heard cackling laughter and a woman's scream. He stopped in his tracks and looked down and alley where a Pirate had a sword to a woman's throat. Without thinking, Naruto's hands dipped into his Kunai pouch and he had embedded the Kunai into the side of the Pirate's skull. The woman fell in a heap, sobbing loudly.

"Get out of the City!" Naruto shouted at her, waking her from her trance. He watched as she gathered herself and ran. He then turned to continue heading back to Sensei's house.

More pirates had thrown fire torches into a blacksmiths building, catching it immediately on fire. They cackled madly, but that was cut short as a giant of a man in a blacksmith's apron appeared in the doorway.

With a start Naruto recognized the man; no two men could be that size. Guerrera. The Kumite champion cracked his neck then charged the Pirates. Naruto didn't need to watch to know the outcome of that fight, but he needed to pass that way. He began to run, looking to jump over the conflict. As he pushed himself into the air with Chakra, he heard a cry from just inside the doorway. A baby crying. He spun in midair, his mind working furiously. Guerrera was pushing the pirates away from his building. The bottom floor wasn't on fire yet.

A baby, he's protecting a baby.

Naruto dashed past the men. In a split second he was alongside Guerrera and their eyes met. In that moment, with a nod, an understanding happened between them.

Guerrera with a roar crushed one Pirates skull while throwing another across the street. Naruto entered the burning building and saw her, a baby girl wrapped in blankets in a basket just inside the doorway. He grabbed the basket and turned to leave when a beam on fire fell across the doorway, fire raining down with it. He heard a deep shout of "No" from outside, _that has to be Guerrera_. Naruto pointed his free hand at the beam and fire in the doorway. "Move Guerrera!!" He shouted back as loud as he could, hoping the man would hear him over the raging inferno.

A blast of wind destroyed the beam into flaming splinters that raced into the bodies of the Pirates unlucky enough to be used by Guerrera as a shield. He peeked over them then tossed the bodies aside as Naruto charged out the building, holding the baby close to his chest having discarded the basket.

Guerrera, kicked the last Pirate down the street then reached for the baby, tears actually showing in the big man's eyes. He stared at Naruto with gratitude. "My only child, my daughter." was all Guerrera said.

Naruto nodded at him. "Better head out of town, those cannon's would do more damage than the pirates will."

Guerrera lumbered out of the city, clutching his daughter to his chest.

Naruto rounded the corner and stopped dead in his tracks at the spectacle. Senjii stood battling five pirates, swords clashing in the light of the fire that engulfed Sensei's house.

Sensei himself was pulling a trunk behind him slowly, leaving the house behind. Naruto rushed up to him. "Sensei, what are you doing?"

"Leaving Naruto, the house is on fire, even if I could out it, what would be the point. All things come and go. This town is dead, listen to it."

Naruto could hear the screams, running, the sounds of fire and wood snapping. Cannons firing and laughter as hundreds of Pirates swarmed the Port City.

"But we can fight them off!" Naruto shouted.

"Yes we could." Tenchi nodded. "And we might win too. But the citizens of this town care not for it. It was convenient that's all. This is no one's home Naruto, what would you be fighting to protect?"

Naruto looked hopelessly as more people ran_. This seemed, wrong._

* * *

_**1 hour later.**_

They stood on the hill Naruto and Senjii had first crested when they saw the city. The sun had just begun to rise. Flames still danced across the smoldering city. All the people who were able to leave, had already done so. The screams had long since stopped. Now it was just the wild laughter of the Pirates as they looted whatever treasures were left behind.

Naruto seethed in rage. Jiraiya put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Everyone is out, just Pirates left. Time to go apprentice."

A burning started in Naruto's belly. A growing rage that he could only explain as loss and anger. He had only been here a short while, but once again, he was being forced to leave a village, a home. Tenchi's words were not true. Here again he had found acceptance. Here again, he, Naruto, had found a home.

The fire in him bubbled and boiled. Jiraiya who had begun to walk away stopped in mid track and looked back in fear. _This Chakra…no..!_

Naruto couldn't see his eyes change to slits; he heard the growl escape his throat though. He recognized the signs of himself drawing on the Kyuubi's power as he punched his two hands into the air in front of him. Wind started to circulate around Naruto as if he was in a Tornado.

Tenchi stared at Naruto, _this move hadn't been perfected yet._ _But this level of Chakra was more than they used in training. Even if unfinished, the strength of this move would…_

Tenchi gasped. "Naruto no!"

With a snarl and a howl, Naruto gathered an incredible amount of Chakra and pushed forward, palms facing the burning town. A sudden burst of wind raged and raced towards it, a huge arc that expanded rapidly as it approached. Trees were destroyed in its path, rocks hurled and shattered. The first buildings it came into contact with crumbled without resistance. The shockwave just blasted its way through the town. The screams returned, but this time those of dying or about to die Pirates.

The wave continued quickly through the entire port city, decimating it, it reached the bay and kept going, splintering ships that were docked. The Jutsu faded quickly though over the water dying before it hit the big ship, the main one.

Naruto fell to his knees panting, trying to regain control of himself.

Senjii whistled. That was the move he had first tried back in the Kumite. If that had worked then, the audience, the town, hell maybe even he, would have died.

The few citizens that had stayed to witness the onslaught ran far away from Naruto. Leaving a very select few in the clearing. Jiraiya said nothing, but realized that Sage training would have to wait. Naruto had a temper problem, and its name was Kyuubi. He needed to get that under control first.

Tenchi looked down sadly at his apprentice. This was such a huge burden for a child to bear.

Naruto struggled to his feet, wiping tears from his eyes.

Jiraiya rested his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Let's go"

Senjii asked. "Well where are we goin?"

Naruto looked around the clearing, aside from his new extended family Guerrera had come over with his daughter still in his hands.

"I owe you young one." His deep bass voice echoed. "Thank you for saving my daughter."

"Where will you go?" Naruto asked looking up at the big man.

Guerrera shrugged. "Many towns need blacksmith, will start over somewhere else."

Something clicked in Naruto's head then. A blacksmith. Maybe….maybe it was time to start?

"Everyone?" Naruto cleared his throat, his eyes clearly including Guerrera. "Would you please help me start my Village. Would you come with me to Tengoku?"

* * *

_**Two weeks later**_

As they walked in the shadow of the Pathways of Heaven and Hell, Jiraiya was once again lost in thought. Naruto's plan made a remarkable amount of sense. They had nowhere to really go, he did need somewhere to train, and there were good people out there who needed protection as well as a safe place to raise a family. The world was not always a safe place and a hidden ninja village was actually safer than most.

Guerrera had come along quietly, not saying much to anyone. He took care of his daughter like a gentle giant. From what Jiraiya understood, the fighter's wife had died in childbirth. The baby, Gabriela, didn't' cry much, having her father's quiet attitude and strength. He had nowhere to go, so starting over in a new village was the same as anywhere else, plus he owed Naruto for saving his daughter's life.

Jiraiya smiled. Naruto had a way of pulling in people around him. Just what the leader of a new village needed.

"We're here." Naruto said out loud, excitement in his voice. He pointed to a deep gulley in the rocky mountain. With a huge grin on that prankster face, he jumped in. A gust of wind picked him up and shot him up to the sky.

With a laugh, Senjii was the next to follow, then Tenchi, Guerrera and Gabriela, then reluctantly Jiraiya. He thought angrily_, there's a reason I use toads and not birds! I hate flying!_


	5. Chapter 5 : Beginnings

**Beginnings**

Jiraiya landed on his ass, face aghast at the ride he had just taken. To his left he spied Guerrera and his daughter, their faces in awe of their surroundings. Jiraiya himself was taken aback by what he saw. They were literally perched atop a huge, solid cloud. Ahead of them lay an island with trees swaying in the wind. A few birds flew past them, Jiraiya never would call himself an expert on animal life, but he was fairly sure that he had never seen birds that colour before.

Naruto bounded over full of energy. "Come on, let me show you guys my island!"

Jiraiya smiled - his mind racing. _This place was impossible to find, extremely easy to defend. It's the perfect location for a hidden village._ His apprentice was indeed the #1 most unpredictable ninja indeed.

He followed Naruto and laughed. Those fools in Konoha don't know what they've lost in the young ninja.

* * *

Senjii sat legs folded on the white beach of 'heaven' as Naruto called this place. A cooling breeze brushed his hair away from his face. A small contended smile was all that gave away his thoughts. His trust in Naruto was well founded.

At first he did not believe in this place, but to actually sit here, on a cloud in the sky, Senjii began to believe that anything was possible in this world.

He frowned slightly. His leader and friend Naruto was training to become stronger. Surely he too needed to work harder in order to be worthy to be Naruto's protector, his shield. His eyes closed as he gave serious thought on how he could improve his swordsmanship.

* * *

That night they sat in the initial camp Naruto had built months ago, a wild boar Guerrera had caught roasting over an open fire.

Jiraiya and Tenchi looked at their apprentice. He had put some surprising thought into this.

"I've been thinking about it since I left here. We need a supply of water, and electricity. This place is made from wind and there will never be a lack of it. Couldn't we use those windmill things to make electricity? And there is a lake not far from here with rainwater. It's fairly large. I don't know much about it, but I think it could last us?"

Tenchi nodded. "Yes Naruto, some wind turbines would certainly be a very smart way to generate the power we would need. I know a city where I can order those"

Naruto grinned at that, the first person to say anything he suggested was smart. Truth is he HAD indeed been thinking about this a lot.

Jiraiya rubbed his chin. "The water could be a problem. We don't know how often it rains up here. We're not so high that other clouds can't fly over us, but at the same time, we don't know how often it happens. I'll do some monitoring. We could probably work something else out - I saw the ocean far below us on the far side of the island. Perhaps a displacement Seal to transfer some water to our lake. I'll work on that."

Guerrera watched his baby girl sleep in the little cot that Jiraiya had fashioned for him out of branches and leaves. He cleared his throat. "You have taken me and my daughter in with you, accepted us without questions of the past. This I appreciate. I will start over here with you; help build the village you dream of. There are many rocks I can mould to useful size. I would stay here with my daughter and raise her, if you will allow it."

Naruto sprang to his feet, "Of course! Tengoku accepts all who need somewhere to start over! Ninja, warrior and citizen alike!"

Everyone gathered around the fire grinned wildly at Naruto's outburst. His energy was contagious.

"What should we start on tomorrow?" Naruto asked, eyes burning with what his old friend Lee would have called the fires of youth.

Jiraiya stood up and walked over to Naruto. With a softness that was hardly becoming of a Sannin he pushed Naruto to the ground. "Sit down Naruto." He laughed.

"We need to see what funds we have available to start buying the wind turbines, plus a lot of other small things we will need to survive. Tools, storage bins for food. This is not something that can be rushed into without planning."

Senjii threw a large bag of gold coins to the ground. "Here are the earnings from the past months jobs. It should buy some of the items we need."

Naruto frowned slightly then grinned. He bounded back to his feet and ran into the darkness of the forest, away from the fire and everyone. Five minutes later he was back clutching a much larger bag of bills and coins.

"I found this the last time I was here. It came with the wind. Will this be enough to get started too?" He asked excitedly.

Tenchi opened the bag and briefly glanced at its contents. He smiled at everyone. "Looks like we have a village to start building."

* * *

"So when you said we," Naruto grunted as he lifted another rock onto his shoulders, "what you really meant was ME!"

The field they had chosen to build the village was close to the entry point, a rainfall lake sat right next to it, and large trees as old as time itself grew throughout. Naruto had thought it was beautiful until Tenchi had informed him he would be leveling the field himself

"We need to build your core physical strength and your use of the various Jutsu you've learned."

Naruto grunted and stared at the end of the field. He had placed a seal marker there. With a grunt he flashed himself to the seal with Hiraishin, Boulder cradled on his shoulder. He then walked an extra few feet and lifted the boulder over his head, chakra infused arms and legs giving him a small boost so that he could heft the big stone. He threw it in the pile that had begun to grow then jogged back to the starting point for another big rock.

* * *

Jiraiya and Guerrera stared down at the paper in front of them. They were beginning to map out the shape of the city.

"The first thing we should look at is layout. A protective wall of course, but that can come last. A few houses for us to live in. A central building for administration." Guerrera spoke lowly.

Jiraiya drew a circle in the dead center of the map. "Let's start with our main tower here. We can have lodgings in this tower, and then expand outwards. I think it best if we focus on building one thing really well first and then expand outwards."

Guerrera frowned thoughtfully then nodded. "Yes. I agree. Now the wind turbines should run along the northern side of the boundary. That's where the wind is the strongest. We can set up a wind farm there, and build our main electricity building here," drew a box on the map.

Jiraiya nodded this time. "Agreed. I'd like the water plant to be on the Eastern side closest to the lake. From there we can feed in pipes to the central building and anywhere else."

Guerrera looked up at Jiraiya. "There are a couple things we need to consider. I am a mason, and blacksmith. But I know nothing of the electricity grid or water plant. We'd need someone else to build those. All I can build is the shell building, but even that I'd need advice on."

Jiraiya sighed. "Yes, we need two engineers for this. When Tenchi and I go looking for the turbines we will see who we can find." He grinned. "But who wouldn't want to work in Heaven?"

Guerrera smiled and laughed loudly. "I have an idea for the style of buildings considering the name of this city and its location."

Jiraiya smirked. "I leave that up to you."

* * *

Senjii fell in behind Naruto, having been drafted to help with the clearing of the large field. He too picked up a large boulder and used his own Body Flicker technique to teleport himself at high speed to the far end of the field. The sweat rolled down his shirtless back a he puffed hard and turned back to jog and get another one.

"Hey Naruto," He called out to his friend as they jogged in unison. "Why don't you use those clones you made before and let's get this done faster?"

His sentence finished as they get back in front of Tenchi, who promptly rapped him on his head with a fan.

"Fool. You would look for a shortcut to hard work?" Senjii grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Naruto has been told no Bunshins. This is as much a mental experience as it is a physical endurance one. There will be no shortcuts."

Naruto nodded wordlessly. A smile spread on his face. "Senjii, you afraid you can't keep it up? I bet I can clear this half of the field before you clear that half."

A look of shock and then a feral grin split Senjii's face. "Oh you're on Naruto. I'll take that bet. Loser cooks for a month!"

Naruto grinned. "Deal!"

The two of them raced with renewed vigor to grab another boulder.

* * *

_**Konoha**_

Shikamaru fiddled with the piece of straw in his mouth as he looked up at the clouds. Troublesome, he thought.

"Hey Shika!" Chouji hailed him out as he approached. Next to him was team 10, Neji, Lee and Ten Ten.

Shikamaru looked over at them and waved them over. The hill he was on was perfect for cloud watching. Also perfect for talking with friends inconspicuously and discretely as anyone who approached could be seen.

"Hey guys. We're just waiting for the others now. " They sat down and within a few minutes, the 'others' showed up. Ino approached bringing with her Hinata, Kiba and Shino. With a nod they all sat down and looked at the clouds.

Shikamaru spoke up. "Ok guys, I asked you to come so we could talk about something important."

Lee, subdued for once, nodded. "Naruto."

Shikamaru nodded. "Yes, but more than that, the state of Konoha. The new Hokage is a warmonger. He seeks to ignite the flames of war with Suna and Iwa. The balls are already in motion on this one. " Shikamaru being the only Chunnin in the group so far had access to much more information than the others. Information that disturbed him.

"What the council did to Naruto was deplorable, he did nothing but fail to bring back that traitor Sasuke." The faces of all gathered clouded over with anger. "Who are we fighting to protect? Are we on the side of right and justice anymore?"

Neji spoke up. "It is more complicated than just that. Our clans have thrown their support, for the most part, behind Danzo. We cannot go against the clans."

Hinata pressed her fingers together and nodded. "Father himself hates Danzo, but believes we must follow his orders if we are to maintain order in Konoha."

"Hai!" lee stood up and shouted. "It is true the older generation does not have the will of fire needed to fix this problem! But out youthful flames burn brightly!"

"Sit down lee." Shikamaru scowled. "What I'm asking here is, what would you guys be willing to do? How far would we go to protect this our home? I myself thought of leaving, maybe wandering the world, see if I could even maybe meet Naruto again. But this, Konoha, is my home. I cannot leave it just because some fool currently runs it."

Kib nodded. "This is our lair. My pack will not leave."

Shino agreed. "Our colonies cannot be raised in any other area without much damage to them. The Aburame clan cannot relocate."

Shikamaru sighed. "Well then we must deal with the situation on our own, and efficiently. When you have an unwelcome growth, you must remove it."

Ten Ten gasped. "Are you proposing we assassinate the Hokage?"

Shikamaro choked. "No! *cough*. That would be suicide. We are a bunch of Gennins and Chunnin level ninja. We cannot go up against ANBU and Jounin level guards. No what I propose is a systematic attack on his credibility. Frustrating the leaders of this village while we build our support base. A base we could use eventually to overthrow Danzo and reclaim our village."

Everyone looked at Shikamaru closely. What he was proposing was treason to Konoha. But what was their alternative? Sit quietly by and watch their village die? The very morals they grew up believing washed away by blood thirst?

"How do we frustrate the leaders?" Kiba asked.

"Guerrilla tactics." Shikamaru replied. "We interfere with essential services, not in a serious way initially. We paint slogans, raise awareness."

Kiba frowned then a grin broke his face and he laughed. "Like how Naruto used to do pranks on the village?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Maybe not so simply but yes. We 'prank' them, escalating the seriousness until things come to a head."

Lee grinned wildly "Yes! Naruto's youthful spirit will live on in us! His friends! His army!"

Ino laughed, never in a million years she would be contemplating doing what she was about to with her friends. "So we're Naruto's army and we are going to terrorize our own village! Sounds great what shall we do first!"

Shikamaru shook his head. "Are we all ok with this plan? Anyone who doesn't want to participate can leave now. I trust everyone here with my life, so I know the secret will be safe."

Neji stood up. "Naruto's army. It has a nice ring to it. I've already decided to forge my own destiny. This is a path I believe is righteous and should be walked down."

Hinata stood up as well. "I too will join. We must save the village…a...and Naruto too!" She added shyly.

Kiba laughed and bounded to his feet."Hell yeah lets make some noise!"

Lee jumped high and landed in his famous nice guy pose. "We will succeed in the revolution of our youth! The fires burn brightly in us!"

Shino stood and nodded.

Ten Ten shook her head and stood up. "I'm with you my friends. Things are not right the way they are."

Chouji nodded to his best friend Shikamaru, no words necessary, of course he would side with him.

Shikamaru sighed. "So troublesome. Naruto's army is officially formed. Now, here is my first plan."

* * *

_**Hidden Village of the Sand**_

"Gaara!" Temari's voice echoed in the halls of the Kazekage's tower. Her footsteps made no noise as she ran, paper clutched in her hand. Just days earlier had seen Gaara elected to be the newest Kazekage of Suna. Of course this was all tainted when Gaara found out his friend Naruto had been banished from his own village. They had sent out ANBU to look for him offer him citizenship in Suna. But Naruto had been nowhere to be found. Until now.

She slammed open the doors to Gaara's office and saw him sitting behind the desk talking to their brother Kankaru.

"News! I have news of Naruto!" Temari said breathlessly.

Gaara's eyes widened as he stood to his feet, palms on the desk.

"What do you know Temari?" Kankaru asked.

"He was seen in a seaside city in a country far from here. The name is the same. They're describing him as a city killer. He apparently destroyed the town as it was being pillaged by pirates. The entire city in one blast. I'm trying to find out more details now, but it's sketchy." Temari spilled her words out as fast as she could. "What we do know is that someone who matches the description of Jiraiya of the Sannin was seen with him."

Gaara nodded then sat back down. "Good." He rubbed his temples. "At least we know he is alive. And with Jiraiya he'll be ok."

Kankaru sighed. His brother had been very worried about his friend. "Well Gaara, I guess we should focus now on this letter from Konoha's newest Hokage requesting a meeting."

Gaara's eyes grew cold. "Yes, I think I'd like to meet the people responsible for banishing Naruto."

* * *

_**Tengoku**_

Naruto and Senjii pay panting in the grass. The giant field had been cleared completely of rocks and boulders. It had taken them three days and nights of nonstop work, but they did it. It was considered a tie as they both passed out at the same time.

Tenchi finished mapping out exactly what he needed as he watched their progress. The bond between the two had grown during this exercise. Plus, he hoped it would give them a huge appreciation for the work that goes into building a village.

He leaped off the ten foot tall boulder he was sitting on and was about to walk away when he turned back. Damn, forgot this rock needs to move over there too. With a quick glance downfield he swung his leg and kicked at the boulder. It shuddered and then flew across the ground and right into the pile of rocks.

Tenchi nodded then proceeded back to camp to see what Jiraiya and Guerrera had gotten up to.

That night, a recovered Naruto and Senjii stood amongst everyone else in their little group.

Jiraiya hefted the separate bags of money he had placed out.

"This bag has enough for the turbines. Our biggest but most necessary expense." He handed it to Tenchi.

"This bag is for tools we'll need to build and maintain the buildings as well as food supplies and storage bins." He handed it to Guerrera.

"This bag I'll keep is for the water plant."

Naruto nodded. "While you guys are doing that, Senjii and I will continue to prepare the land and area. Jiraiya has given us plans for trenches we need to dig for the water pipes when they come. Also we are to dig the foundation cellar for the tower we'll be building first. Right?"

Jiraiya smiled. "Good. Tomorrow we go our own ways and meet back in one month's time. Naruto I expect you to continue training in that time."

Tenchi chimed in "I want to see one new wind based attack by the time I get back. And you better impress me." Turning to Senjii he added. "I'll be notifying my daughter of my whereabouts Senjii. Would you like me to mention anything to her about you?"

Senjii stiffened then shook his head. He turned quietly and walked away from the fire. Tenchi sighed and looked back to Naruto.

"Please look after Senjii Naruto. He can be a bit impulsive and stubborn."

Jiraiya almost choked. Didn't Tenchi know who he was talking to? That was like asking a wolf to guard another wolf.

Tomorrow their individual errands would begin, and Naruto and Senjii would be alone to build and train.

* * *

_**One week later - Konoha**_

"Ahh! My water is running orange!" A woman's voice split the early morning.

"Mine too!" Another voice, and another joined the rising cacophony. Every tap that was opened gushed forth bright orange water. Those brave enough to try it, realized it was just colored, had no taste and was in fact normal water. With the unfortunate side effect of painting whatever it touched a bright orange colour.

An explosion rocked the village and Danzo looked out over his balcony at the orange fountains, the orange drains where the water ran, and the words that suddenly appeared in the sky above Konoha.

"Naruto's Army strikes back! Down with the dictator Danzo!"

His fists clenched, Danzo bit back a curse as he ordered his ANBU to investigate.


	6. Chapter 6 : Rage

**Chapter 6**

Rage

Naruto's eyes narrowed; his target unaware of his presence. The cool wind swept along his bare back, the sweat rolling down his spine slowly. His fingers clutched the kunai in his hand tighter as he slowly maneuvered himself closer. The target raised his head and looked around suspiciously for a few seconds, before going back to drinking water from the pond. Naruto shifted position slightly, bent back his arm, and threw the kunai dead on target.

Senjii jumped away at the last second, exclaiming loudly. Unfortunately he didn't see where he was jumping and ended up landing in the pond. With a splash and lots of spluttering, he emerged and growled at Naruto.

"What the hell Naruto!"

Naruto was on the ground rolling in laughter. Tears streamed down his face as he sought to catch his breath. "You should have seen your face!" Naruto managed to squeeze out between laughing.

Senjii walked out of the water, dripping and fuming. He glared and Naruto and drew his sword.

"Let's see if you still laugh when I shave that head of yours clean of all hair!" Senjii barked at Naruto and Flash jumped to within feet of Naruto. Naruto yelped and did a Hiraishin to take himself several meters away in white blur.

Senjii followed quickly with another Flash Jump and swung his sword at Naruto's head. Naruto managed to dodge it at the last second by flipping into a cartwheel. Mid spin he did a Hiraishin again to move further away. This cat and mouse game they had invented a week ago and they were both getting much better at using their speed maneuvers whilst fighting or dodging.

Naruto appeared at the end of the island. From this side could see the ocean. Senjii appeared behind him, but too close and his forward momentum pushed both of them over the edge. Narutu's eyes opened large as he realized what was happening.

Frantically he tried to flash jump back to the island but Senjii's arms were caught up in Naruto's and they started to spin as they fell. They screamed for two second before realizing that a gust of wind picked them up and started pushing them out to sea. Naruto felt the familiar sensation, much like the wind river that brings you to his Island.

He and Senjii held themselves in check as much as they could, as the river of wind turned and twisted. Naruto felt like they had done a loop, pretty sure he saw the cloud that hid the island in the sky not behind them, but miles and miles away to his right now. The wind rushed them onto land again, over what looked like a small sea village. It deposited them in a heap on top of a small grassy hill.

Naruto and Senjii looked around. Senjii pointed east. "That's home. A good three days travel." He sighed. "Guess we should start walking?"

Naruto nodded and they headed east. The path from the clearing passed through a small wooded area. Naruto and Senjii strode through it disgruntled at the journey that in the space of five minutes was thrust on them.

The canopy of rich greens and the sounds of birds thought soon had them feeling lazy and relaxed. The crunch of their boots on the gravel and dirt road became hypnotic. Naruto yawned and stretched his arms out. His white shirt flapping in the gentle wind that blew against them. Senjii sighed and cracked his neck.

"Help!" An ear shattering scream split the silence, sending hundreds of birds flying from the forest.

Naruto and Senjii stopped in their trackes immediately.

"Anybody! Please help!" The voice shrieked again. Senjii pointed off to their right. "That way."

In a blur both he and Naruto were flashing towards the source of the scream. Jump after jump. It took them thirty seconds to arrive at what looked like a few small houses on a piece of farmland.

What they saw though horrified them. Three bodies were hanging from a post over the horses corral. All three had been brutally beaten, and bloodied. Their hands were tied behind their backs, and Naruto could see that their feet were shackled. What made Naruto almost retch was that the bodies were of two children and one woman.

Standing not far from there, was a large group of roughly thirty warriors, laughing and throwing a little girl to the ground. Senjii could see that there appeared to be another six people being attacked by the warriors. One old man, a younger man and woman who held onto each other, and three other children. It was one of the children that was screaming.

Naruto and Senjii didn't even look at each other. Senjii disappeared in a black blur. The child the warriors were throwing disappeared. Senjii reappeared next to the seven civilians holding the child in his arms. He held the crying girl as he said to no one in particular. "Naruto, don't miss"

With a primeval yell of anger, Naruto leapt into the air above the group. He had once been subject to beatings as an orphan, but to see children being mutilated, killed, laughed at as it was happening…it was too much for Naruto to handle. They had time to see a figure in white soaring above them, the sun behind him as his arms swept outwards. A hailstorm of Wind Senbon rained down on the men. All the practice with Kenshi had paid off. Most of Naruto's needles found their targets, but more importantly, none came anywhere near Senjii and the civilians.

The warriors dropped like flies as the Senbon pierced them completely, the wind projectiles not stopping till they were embedded completely in the ground. As Naruto landed on the far side of them, close to Senjii, only six men were left standing.

Senjii stood with his sword ready in case any attack came towards the civilians, but he left the attack to Naruto in this case. None of these men looked like they would be any sort of challenge to either of them.

He was right.

Naruto rushed forward. His Bo staff was back on the island, but all coherent thought left his mind as he snarled and his fist connected with the first face. He pushed wind chakra to his knuckles to increase the blunt force. The result was catastrophic. The man's head exploded in a puff of mist and bone fragments.

One man rushed at Naruto with a downward swing of a large axe. Naruto sidestepped it, and pivoted. His right hand grabbed the axe and wrenched it out of the man's hand as his spin continued. The axe coming back around to remove the man's head. Naruto could feel the chakra in himself boiling.

Senji noticed Naruto's eyes becoming slits and his whisker birthmarks getting deeper into his face.

In a blur of white though it was all over. Naruto flashed from one man to the next, killing them before they saw him.

The bloodbath had taken all of fifteen seconds.

Senjii turned to look at the family behind him. "Are you ok?"

The older man, who had to be at least seventy-five, nodded. "Yes, thank you. Thank you… our saviours." He fell to his knees weeping. The younger man and woman helped him up.

Naruto breathed in calmly, quieting the monster inside. He could hear it laughing though; and a small voice that breathed into his soul. '_Yesss……_" was what he heard.

None of them noticed a shadow move in the forest as a hidden warrior ran from the carnage.

* * *

_A short while later_

Naruto and Senjii sat at a small dining table inside one of the farmhouses. The kitchen was small but tidy. The family they had rescued sat on the opposite side. The old man at the head of the table, the younger couple sat together on his left, their hands holding each other as well as two children. The other two children sat on the old man's right. The boy holding his sister who was still sniffling. They had juts finished burying the three bodies, who Naruto had discovered to be the boy and girl's mother and siblings.

The old man spoke first. "Thank you for coming to our rescue. It will be a while before Alucar's men discover something happened here. By then, we should be long gone."

"What did they want with you?" Naruto asked.

"Well..." The old man glanced at the rest of his family. "We are what are left of a clan that specializes in what we call Doubutsu Souzou. The local warlord discovered us and was forcing us to…well make horrible things."

Naruto and Senjii both looked puzzled. They asked simultaneously. "What is Doubutso Souzou?"

The old man looked at them suspiciously, then laughed. "I need to remember that you both saved our lives, and that you," he nodded at Naruto, "are clearly a chakra user yourself. Doubutso Souzou is the ability to create animals."

Naruto's eyes opened wide. "You mean like a summons? Like this?" Naruto made some hand signs and slammed them down on the table. A small frog appeared. He looked at Naruto for a few seconds in confusion. Naruto then dispersed the Jutsu.

The old man smiled. "No. That was summoning craft. We don't call animals from one location to another. We create animals from nothingness. It is a complex art, especially when we wish to create hybrids or anything that doesn't already exist in nature. Sometimes the life span is just so short in our creations."

"Wow." Naruto exclaimed. Senjii seemed to be in disbelief.

The younger man spoke up. "We should start packing to leave this place. It is not safe." He looked frustrated as he spoke.

Senjii asked, "Why should you leave? It's just one warlord right?"

The younger man nodded in reply.

Naruto smiled. "How big an army? A hundred men? More?"

"At least three hundred." The younger woman replied. Senjii and Naruto grinned.

"Great! Practice."

"No!" The younger man shouted. "No one else will die because of us. We will leave and we are taking our children with us. We will find somewhere to go where no one can find us. Where we can live in peace." He stood from the table, shrugged off his wife's hand and moved to leave the room.

"Wait." Naruto said. He looked thoughtful. "We are building a village. A village where no one can be hated or used. Where everyone can feel safe. Would you come with us to our village? I mean it's now being built, we don't have any buildings yet, but the land is cleared and Jiraiya and Kenshi and Mr. Guerrera are bringing back materials and supplies for us to start it."

The old man looked at Naruto in shock. "You'd invite us to go with you?"

Senjii smiled. "Naruto here wouldn't leave anyone in a bad situation, not if he can help it. Like he said, the place is under construction. But if you have to start over somewhere, it's a great place to do it. There's no where safer in the world."

The young man stopped in the doorway, and turned. "Really? We…we could stay there? We could stop hiding?" His wife came up to him and held his hand, smiling. She turned to face Naruto. "We'd love to."

Neither she nor her husband saw the arrows that pierced their hearts, but Naruto, Senjii and the rest of the family heard the breaking of the kitchen window, and saw the shafts of black wood appear in the chests of the two adults.

They died instantly, falling with a clump to the floor that signaled the start of screams from their children. Blood spurted from their mouths, their shocked lifeless eyes locking with Naruto's and Senjii's for one second. Chairs scraped as Naruto and Senjii lunged at the old man and the kids, tackling them to the kitchen floor. A hailstorm of arrows zinged by overhead as the girls screamed and cried.

Senjii sprang from his prone position and out one of the shattered window. Outside he'd have a better chance to counterattack than inside.

He hit the ground in a roll and had time to see a volley of arrows coming at him. He drew his sword and swung it in a wide circle, deflecting the arrows. A quick glance confirmed his suspicion. The warlord had come with what had to be his entire army.

He flash jumped to the left. He knew he could take out a good few of them, but he also knew something they didn't. Naruto was only going to be a few seconds behind him, and Naruto would be mad at the death of those two innocents. Senjii thought it best to get out of the line of fire while killing as many as he could.

He was right. The wall of the house exploded outwards, sending shards of wood and glass flying like deadly projectiles. The shrapnel shredded the mercenaries nearest to the house.

Alucar himself sat on a huge horse in the middle of his army of mercenaries, his sallow face and dark beard standing in stark contrast to each other. The earrings and tattoos that adorned his body spoke of someone who loved pain and mutilation.

He snarled at the appearance of Naruto and Senjii, and the losses to his army. "Kill them!" He ordered.

Naruto however didn't give them time to act on those orders. If anyone had been close enough to see, Naruto's iris's had become slits. A reddish glow seemed to surround him and he let loose a yell that seemed more feral than human. A wave of red chakra literally exploded off of him, sending the bodies of the warriors closest to him hurtling through the air. His scream continued as wave after wave of anger washed over him; red chakra wrapping itself around him and then exploding outwards like blasts of gale force wind. The front ranks of the army were atomized into bloody mist, the middle ranks scrambling over each other to back away from the demon they saw before them.

Senji stood still for one wide eyed second.

"Shit"

He burst into action, the soldiers he had been fighting running away as fast as they could. He had never seen Naruto get this way, but he felt sickly at the sight, the Chakra hadn't reached him, but he felt foul this close. But, he realized Naruto had gone completely berserker and forgotten the house behind him and the children who were still crying and cowering on the floor of the house. Naruto's chakra threatened closer and closer to them. Senjii flash jumped into the house and barked commands, pointing out the back door, away from Naruto and the army.

"That way! Run!" The urgency in his voice spurring the older children to grab the younger ones and run. The old patriarch was busy making hand signs as fast as he could manage, as Senjii looked on in shock. The table lit up then became a huge bear. The bear stood up and blocked the chakra waves coming through the shredded hole in the kitchen, its fur being torn to shreds at each wave. It let out howls of pain but kept its place, giving the old man time to move as fast as he could out the back door, and make sure the children escaped.

Senjii ran with them out the back door, and looked back in time to see the house explode into shards of wood. He saw what looked to be Naruto, surrounded by red chakra at least four times bigger than himself. He could have sworn he saw what might have been a few tails swinging behind Naruto.

Senjii's blood ran cold. Was the demon breaking free of its container? His fist clenched tighter on his sword. Naruto was his friend, but if he had not choice… He prepared to flash jump to Naruto when the boy in question screamed louder than Senjii had heard before.

The red chakra began to shrink inwards. Senjii couldn't see from this angle, but he had the impression that Naruto was concentrating immensely. There was almost a vacuum effect as the chakra was pulled into his body, wood, dirt, body parts, all tumbled and made their way towards Naruto with his screaming neverending. Senjii looked on in amazement. It was as if he was the center of the universe and the universe was…

Senjii turned to the family with a panicked expression on his face. He swung his sword in the hardest slash he could manage, digging a huge hole out of the ground. "Jump in! Now!!" He grabbed the old man and literally threw him in. He tackled the children into the hole just as the noise became complete silence for one second. All the chakra completely pulled into his body.

Naruto had a vague idea of what he was doing, but he had no idea how to control what was about to happen. He really hoped Senjii had gotten away with the surviving family members.

Silence for one heart beat, Senjii breathed heavily. Alucar looked at what remained of his forces, and prepared to bark out a command.

Naruto exploded in a final burst of chakra. This chakra however was not red, but instead it was a blast of white light and wind that erupted from his body like a bomb. The remaining army members, house, nearby forest had their very existence erased a layer at a time. Flesh was peeled from bones, blood was atomized, screams were left unheard as the sound of the erupting wind was deafening.

In their hole, Senjii and the family clutched each other tightly as the wind ripped by overhead. It was over in seconds, but it felt like minutes.

Naruto collapsed in a heap, his white clothes shredded, hanging in tatters. A large circular crater was all around him. Not a trace of the house, the army or the nearby forest for two hundred yards in any direction.

Senjii stood up carefully, looking in disbelief at the level of destruction. _Note to self, don't get Naruto pissed._

* * *

Jiraiya looked at the sack of coins in his hand. With a sigh he walked into the bar. When he needed to be, he could be focused. And he was insanely proud of his apprentice Naruto's ambition to start a village. He looked around and cleared his throat. This town was famous for what he needed.

"I am looking, " He announced loudly, getting everyone's attention. "for anyone who can build a water plant for a new village."

Most of the heads turned away, but one old man looked across at him and walked over. "What sort of water plant?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "I don't know. We are building a new village, and have a lake as a source of water. We'd need to filter the water, and pipe it to the buildings in the village. It's a start from scratch sort of job."

The old man rubbed his scruffy chin. "I've not had to build one in many years, but I've done what you are talking about before. I can show you what you need to buy, and arrange transport."

Jiraiya nodded. "I have my own means of transport. But I would need you to show me the needed items. My name is…"

The old man brushed his hand and scoffed. "I've been around the world enough to know your face. You're Jiraiya of the Sannin. You're trustworthy so I believe you will pay fairly for this job." The old man walked back over to the table he was sitting at and hefted a bag onto his shoulders.

"You're lucky I was passing through this town, I don't think you'd find anyone as good as me anywhere close to here. Maybe more to the south." He walked with Jiraiya outside the bar. "My grandson Inari should be around here somewhere. We'll be off immediately I take it?"

* * *


	7. Chapter 7 : Seeds

Chapter 7  
**Seeds**

* * *

Naruto stared up at the birds overhead, gliding on invisible currents of air. _If only I had wings,we'd be back home in NO time_. He sighed and listened to the whisper of his bare feet on the sandy road. They'd left the crater that was the Kazimo clans old home behind hours ago. The old man and children trudged on right behind Naruto, with Senjii taking up the rear.

Naruto really wished he had left something of the house, maybe then he could have gotten some shoes or something to wear. That last release of chakra he had released had completely destroyed his clothes. His tattered white clothes still hung on his back, his pants shredded below the knees, his shoes long gone.

Senjii scanned the forest they walked through carefully. He really doubted that any members of that guerilla army remained after Naruto decimated them, but it didn't hurt to be careful. He thought back to when Naruto went berserk. It sure was a sight to behold. He didn't think anyone could stand up to that onslaught. The demon within him had certainly given him amazing levels of chakra. Senjii had a question that was bothering him though.

"Hey Naruto!" He shouted to the front of their procession.

Naruto turned around and walked backwards on the road so he could look at Senjii with a quizzical eyebrow.

"That last chakra blast, that wasn't your…resident. It felt different." Senjii asked carefully. The new clan didn't know as yet that Naruto had the Kyubbi inside him, and Senjii thought it best for Naruto to explain that at a later time.

Naruto looked thoughtful. "Honestly, it's all a bit of a blur. But…" He looked up at the sky, "I think I changed his chakra into my own, channeled it to mix with mine trying to suppress it. But it was too much to hold inside."

Senjii shook his head. "Helluva thing to do by accident. That's a forbidden art if I ever saw one."

Naruto grinned and put his hand behind his head. "Yeah, I guess it was pretty aweso…" His words were cut short as he tripped over a rock in the road while walking backwards and landed on his ass.

A small giggle escaped from one of the older girls. Naruto smiled at them then looked inquisitively to the old man. "Hey, we don't know any of your names. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. That's my friend Senjii"

The patriarch stopped and pointed to everyone. "These are the twins Baku and Benika. " He motioned to the youngest children, the most recent orphans who had just seen their parents murdered.

He then pointed to the older boy and girl. "The boy is Junya, and the girl is Fuki. Also brother and sister. Twins are a clan trait." The old man smiled. "and I am Tora. Tora Kazimo"

Naruto dusted himself off and looked for what seemed an eternity at the orphans. A thousand thoughts went through Naruto's mind. Senjii could see intense sadness cross his face to be replaced by quiet determination. "Nice to meet you guys properly. We'll be home in a couple days. We will protect the Kazimo clan with our last breath."

Naruto's turned on his heel, and walked forward.

* * *

"You ready Lee?" Shikamaru asked him in a whisper. The night air was brisk as the soft wind nipped at them. Ino peered around the building to the Hokage tower.

"The guards are switching any second now. So we have a total of thirty seconds tops before the next shift settles in for duty." She said.

"More than enough." Lee said tensely. This was a mission and as such his usual bravado about flames of youth was tempered a bit. A solid month of harassing the hated Hokage Danzo had made them all somber.

The trick was to harass the enemy, but not to inflict anything on the villagers. Shikamaru had come up with plan after plan to make life a living hell for Danzo. All so far had been successful. He grinned a little bit as he remembered the shouts coming from the Hokage tower when Danzo discovered all the furniture in the entire tower had been turned to dust. Amazing what those bugs of Shino could do, eating that much wood in one night.

"Now!" Ino barked at them in a whisper. Lee looked up at the tower and disappeared in a blur, his ankle weights left in a heap by Shikamaru. Lee's speed was unmatched by any Genin or Chunnin in Konoha and Shikamaru estimated that no Jounins would be watching the little window of opportunity they had scouted out

_5 seconds_  
Lee's feet carried him at an amazing speed up the side of the hokage tower in leaps and bounds. He didn't have the chakra needed to stick his feet to the wall, but the sheer momentum he was moving at negated the need for it.

_10 seconds_  
Lee was in the window of the Hokage's Office window. A silent whoosh of air shifting the curtains was the only sign of his entry. He had studied the layout of the office before this mission, had even been in it a few times himself, so he knew exactly where to go.

_15 seconds_  
He raced back out the window with the package in his hand. A leap from the window and he was a blur as he hit the ground running. One of the Chunnin sentries who was just settling in could have sworn he saw a green blur across the courtyard, but it was gone as he blinked.

_20 seconds_  
Lee rounded the corner back into the alley and stopped abruptly. Three Large figures stood there in the Alleyway behind Shikamaru and Ino. Shikamaru looked immobilized, his eyes wide. Ino seemed fearful as well. They had been caught. Lee stiffened, preparing to fight to free his friends, when a hand clamped down on his shoulder.

"No." A familiar voice to lee spoke firmly yet in barely a whisper. "You will follow us right now before the guards hear us." Lee gulped and a trickle of sweat rolled down his temple. His grip tightened on the Hokage hat he had just stolen.

"Yes Gai-sensei." He whispered back as they all disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

"Outta the way! " Jiraiya shouted as he came up the river of wind. Truthfully this was a very smart piece of advice he was giving as a very large group of very large toads was behind him, each weighed down by packages of equipment and raw materials. Riding two of the toads were Tazuna and Inari. The builder and his grandson that Jiraiya had hired.

They emerged into the cloud bank and Jiraiya directed each toad that landed to move quickly to the side so that the one behind didn't land on him. It became a very fast paced game of leapfrog as the previous toad landed, hopped forward, then the other toad landed behind him, and hopped over him and so on.

Within minutes they were all settled and grouped around on the sand of the island itself. Inari and Tazuna stood next to the group and looked around. Their employer had not said much about where they were going, but that was to be expected if they were helping a hidden village. They just hadn't realized HOW hidden this one was.

"This is amazing." Tazuna said. "In all my years, I would never think a place like this could exist."

Jiraiya smiled. "Well the person who discovered it called it Tengoku (Heaven), so Naruto decided to keep the name."

Tazuna's and Inari's heads whipped around at the same time, the same word on both their lips. "Naruto?"

As if on cue, a loud 'woo hoo' broke the calm and the white clad Ninja in question came bursting through the clouds, up the river of wind. He landed much better this time, in a crouched position, one hand touching the ground in front of him. _Yes _he thought smugly, _that was a perfect entrance._ One second later however the two younger twins Baku and Benika fell on him.

The rest of the Kazimo clan soon followed, everyone landing on top of Naruto, whose hands was all that showed.

Within seconds they had untangled and were staring around at wonder at the island in the sky while Naruto grinned madly. But then Naruto and Senjii saw the toads, Jiraiya and a dumbstruck Tazuna and Inari staring at them. Naruto's mouth dropped open.  
"Inari?"

A wide grin split Inari's face and he laughed and ran over to greet his friend.

* * *

Later around a campfire, they all took stock of where things stood.

"So Tazuna and Inari here will help build the water plants. When Guerrera gets back we'll start on the main tower. The Kazimo clan is more than welcome to pitch in where you can, as you can see we are starting from scratch."

Old man Tora smiled. "Thank you for inviting us here. I can see the potential in this village as a permanent home for my clan. In truth we had nowhere else to go besides Konoha, and we've heard bad things lately about the new Hokage there."

"New Hokage?" Naruto's attention now fully on Tora.

"Yes, an old war-monger named Danzo. A very long time ago when the Tora clan fought in battles, we had heard of him. Some say he thought of his ninja as nothing more than pawns to win at all costs. A brutal reputation he had. I would not have willingly taken my family to Konoha now."

Naruto's eyes grew dark and he put his head down. His old home in the hands of someone who stood completely against the old man, the only person Naruto thought of as Hokage, had once stood for.

"I've also heard of you Naruto" Tora said with a weird tinge to his voice. "Just a few weeks ago we heard of a town far from here that had been wiped out. Invading pirates had swarmed the city and one man in his anger at the raid waved his hand and destroyed the city and the pirates within. One slash, one city. They said his name was Naruto, a white clad destroyer of cities, a Shinigami, an Angel of death."

They all grew quiet and the sound of the crackling embers was all the noise they heard.

Jiraiya sensed his mood and decided a diversion was in order. "So tomorrow we'll start the work of building this place. Tonight though, why don't you, "he gestured to Inari, "tell me how you know Naruto."

Inari grinned and launched into a tale of how a trio of young Ninja had saved their village and their lives. He embellished certain points to make it more grand, but he had everyone laughing and cheering as he reenacted the scenes of battle -most of which he had not seen- well into the night.

* * *

"You were reckless and stupid, and of course you would get caught eventually. Did you think you wouldn't?" Shikamaru's dad tore into him verbally, lashing out with anger.

Shikamara, Ino, Lee, Chouji, Hinata, Ten Ten, Nejji, Kiba and Shino all stood there as their parents - with one exception - individually berated them in the room they had come to. Shikamaru hadn't been surprised at that point that the others had been rounded up at the same time. They had been discovered completely.

Kakashi stood to the side and let the parents deal with their children for a few minutes. He stood 'guard' over Hinata and Neji as they dared not inform the Hyuga clan of this. When he thought they'd gone far enough he stepped forward.

"It is clear to us that you were seeking to harass the Hokage." Kakashi said loud enough to get everyone's attention. "But then what?"

Shikamaru understood the question. "The intention was to build up support against Danzo. To undermine his base."

His father shook his head. "The intentions are good, but all you've managed to do is make it seem like harmless pranks are being pulled on him. It is not enough."

Shikamary glanced quickly at his father at that last statement. That was more than beratement, that was disappointment in execution, not in their intention.

"What you are doing now, did you think that none of us in this room agreed with you? That Danzo is not to be trusted?" Kakashi went on.

"The village is not at peace with the decision to make him Hokage. We cannot publicly agree with your actions, but privately, we will encourage and assist."

Gai smiled at his student. "Yosh! The fires of youth burn brightly! Overthrowing a leader is a task best suited for this generation indeed. But come to me next time for advice Lee!"

"Gai sensei!" lee hugged his mentor.

The parents hugged their children. Kakashi turned to Hinata and Neji. "Unfortunately, the Hyuga's seem to be in full support of Danzo, so we cannot have your families involved. In fact now would be a good time to back out for you two."

"No." Neji and Hinata said at the same time. Neji continued, "Our village is under threat. We must defend it."

Kakashi nodded. "Good. Now Danzo is the head of an underground organization called Root. And do you remember your D –Class mission days? How do we remove an old root?"

Kiba snorted. "We had to dig all around it then light it on fire before we could pull it out."

Gai grinned. "Exactly"

* * *

Guerrera had arrived in the middle of the night with all his materials strapped to the back of a giant blue ox he had borrowed from a friend who could conjure such things. He had greeted the Tora clan warmly, and the Tora girls Benika and Fuki had immediately taken to fawning over his daughter.

Naruto and Senjii stood at the place the future tower of their city would stand. They had cleared out the area and readied it for construction before their little adventure. Naruto had gotten a new pair of white trousers and sandals. Jiraiya had explained to him that if he wanted to start a new village, his reputation was tantamount. So wearing orange was out. Naruto had pouted at that, but glady put on the trousers and sandals that were thrown at his face by Jiraiya. The shirt lay cast aside for now, as they were about to do some serious manual labour.

"Ok!" Naruto shouted and formed the signals. Fifty shadow clones appeared, all ready to begin laying stones.

Senjii grinned. Naruto's almost unlimited clone making abilities would help them build this tower in no time.

Guerrera approached them with the blueprints he had drawn up. For the first time, Naruto got a good look at the design. It was a solid, smooth round white tower extending one hundred and fifty feet into the air. From what Naruto could tell in the notes, the windows would be frosted glass with intricate seals and markings to prevent cracking or breaking. The roof of the tower would house what Guerrera only marked as 'beacon light'. Naruto didn't know what that was so didn't think about it much for the moment.

Senjii whistled as he too looked at the plans. "Wow. That's beautiful. Really going with the whole heavenly theme huh?" He smiled. "Ok Guerrera, what do we do first?"

Tazuna and Inari began unpacking the pipes that Jiraiya had brought. The toads long gone, the packs lay around the lake that was to be the main water source.

"You know grandpa," Inari said as he hefted some nuts and bolts, "I was thinking maybe when we finish this job, we can stick around here for a while." He glanced over at Tazuna cautiously. "Maybe I could learn to be a fighter like Naruto even."

Tazuna didn't look over at Inari. "Why would you want to fight?"

Inari looked out over the lake in the sky. "To protect people who can't protect themselves, like Naruto does."

Tazuna grunted and passed a rope to Inari. "Do what you wish grandson. After we finish this job."

Naruto and Senjii had begun by creating a pulley system to put the large metal beams that would be the frame of the structure into the ground. Guerrera supervised it all such that by the end of the first day, they had the first of the beams in and the holes for the others already dug.

An exhausted Naruto sank to the ground around the campfire. Even with shadow clones, it was a lot of work. This tower wouldn't just appear overnight. He had underestimated how much work it would be. But at the same time, he lay back with a satisfied grin on his face, he was building his own home with his own hands.

Jiraiya noticed the smile on Naruto's face and recognized it for what it was. He smiled too, proud of his student.

"OK" He called everyone's attention. "We have a few things to talk about."

Tora stirred the pot of stew he was making for everyone to eat, but he gave Jiraiya his attention. The Kazumi children were playing with Gabriel, Senjii was sharpening his blades. Guerrera just sat with a content face and looked on.

"Our village name is Tengoku, and Naruto here would like for it to be a powerful village capable of taking in people and protecting them. Do I have that right Naruto?"

Naruto nodded so Jiraiya continued.

"Well then we need to organize a few things. The village itself is being built, but noone knows about us. The very first thing we need is a symbol. Something to represent the ideals of our village. Suggestions?"

Naruto sat up, he hadn't thought of that. What would they put on their headbands. He scowled, he didn't particularly want to wear another headband, it had been months since he lost his Konoha one, and even though he had his own village now, he didn't feel right putting on another one. But the band could wait, for now…

"Well what would represent Heaven?" Naruto asked.

Tora walked over and sat down. "We are currently in the land with no name, a hundred miles west of the last great country. Hmm…Our village is hidden in the heavens, the Heavenly City."

Senjii chimed in "…we could use the pearly gates, but that just seems…wrong."

A voice came in from the shadows, "I say we put wings on our crest. As we are the warriors of Heaven. I think Archangels is a good imagery to put out there." Tenchi stepped into the light of the campfire smiling.

They all welcomed him back. Jiraiya laughing at his entry. "Damn samurai, do you have to be so mysterious?" he cocked his head to the side. "I like the idea though. The warriors of Heaven. Naruto?"

Naruto grinned madly. "Well if I'm already getting to be known as an Angel of death, it makes sense. So we're…ark..angels?" He asked Tenchi.

"Archangels," he corrected Naruto. "The warriors of Heaven."

Naruto felt a chill. "I love it!"

Jiraiya nodded and made a note in his little book. "Ok that settles that. So we have a name for our warriors, and a symbol. I'll design something and show you when I'm done."

"Now the next step. We already have one clan adopted to our village, the Kazumi Clan. What do we do about training?"

Old man Tora shook his head. "I will not force my grandchildren to a life of being warriors. They can make the decision on their own. I myself fought in wars and its not a pleasant thing."

The Kazumi kids grew quiet. The oldest boy, Junya looked down. "I'd like to learn to fight. Our parents were killed, and Baku and Benika's as well. And the way those men were torturing and playing with my sister… I need to get stronger to protect them."

Inari had tears in his eyes, hearing familiar words. "I too would like to learn how to fight," after glancing to his grandfather though he added, "…after we finish our job of course. I'd like to stay here."

Naruto stood up, tears in eyes too. "I'd be happy if you stayed Inari. You too Tazuna. Junya, I'll make sure you can protect your sister and your family."

Tora sighed. "Since I'm not much other use, I'll begin instruction on the children who want to learn. If Junya is doing it, then so is Fuki." Fuki nodded shyly. "I will set aside an area tomorrow for a warrior academy. Since we have people from all over the known world, I think I'd like to suggest we don't only study Ninja arts. We already have Samurai, Ninja, and a Luchador."

Naruto nodded. "I think that makes sense." But then he looked puzzled. "What's a Luchador?"

Guerrera, Jiraiya and Tenchi laughed. "Naruto, you really should learn about your opponents before you fight them. Guerrera is a Luchador. A masked wrestler or grappler. It's a strong one on one fighting style." Tenchi said.

"Ohhh" Naruto laughed. "That's ok then. So we aren't training Ninja's, we're training warriors. Warrior Angels!"

They laughed and settled in to more casual talk for the rest of the evening.

* * *

Gaara entered the village of Konoha followed by his entourage of thirty visible ninja. The hokage had requested this meeting months ago, but Gaara was new in his post as Kazekage and couldn't leave so early in his tenure. In truth he didn't even want to come here, the village that had scorned his one friend Naruto, but in his official capacity he had to put aside those issues. He just hoped he could maintain his calm around Danzo.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, his visit coincided with another diplomat. The Daimyo himself. The fire lord and his train of courtesans and bodyguards easily took up the entire street. Guaara scowled as he fell in line behind the Daimyo as tradition dictated he did.

Danzo stared down at them from his Balcony, his eyes wide. He had no prior knowledge of the arrival of either party. The usual courtesies hadn't been prepared. He called on his trusted aides, remnants of his Root organization.

"Whats the meaning of this? Did you know?" He demanded of his first officer.

"No sir, no message was received informing us." Danzo swore vehemently. He raced down the stairs to greet the arriving diplomats and Gaara the Kazekage he had wanted to meet alone. His carefully crafted assassination plot to kill Gaara was out the door now; he couldn't do anything with the Daimyo here.

He flung open the doors to the Hokage tower just as the Daimyo stopped short of it.

"Greetings your Eminence. I wasn't aware you were coming." He gritted out behind the widest smile he could muster. Gaara watched him curiously from next to the Daimyo.

"I see the usual manners of your predecessor have been forgotten." The Daimyo said irritably. "My feet haven't touched dirt floor in some time. I shall be sure to remember this experience 'Hokage'. Where is your hat?"

Danzo cursed mentally, the red carpet hadn't been rolled out. He didn't notice as the Guard next to him eyes glazed over for the briefest of seconds, but enough to stumble forward and push Danzo from behind. Danzo wasn't expecting it and fell helplessly into the Daimyo. The both of them tumbled down the stairs of the Hokage tower. Gaara looked on in shock while his advisor and sensei Baki looked across the courtyard to the rooftop of a nearby shop where Ina and her father stood looking down on the proceedings . Truthfully all the rooftops had families watching the great fire lords' entrance.

So his tumble with Danzo brought an audible gasp from the crowd.

Inoichi Yamanaka very subtly winked at his daughter, having just re-entered his body. Ino smiled at her dad and looked back at the flailing arms and dust spectacle before them.

It was going to be an interesting visit by the Daimyo.

* * *

By the third day, Naruto was working alongside one hundred and fifty clones of himself. They were evenly divided building the tower, the water plant and the wind turbines. He had also thrown a few into training. As he realized he remembered every thing they learnt, it just felt wrong to forget about training just because he was busy with his village.

Jiraiya had come up with a symbol for their village. A pair of sharp angular wings cut out of the metal background of the headband. Naruto loved it.

Naruto was thinking though about something Senjii had said the night before. "He Senjii," He asked as he handed him another large brick. "Do you remember last night, where you said I should be careful I don't fall off the island again and float away to the sea or something?"

Senjii scowled, the sun was blazing them today. "Yes I remember. Why?"

Naruto grinned. He made the familiar hand signs and pumped out another fifty clones. "Ok lets do this!" he shouted at them. The clones all ran off in different directions.

"What are you doing?" Senjii asked.

"Simple" Naruto smiled as he went back to work. "I remember everything when my clones dissipate. So I'll send each one to find another path of wind off and back on the island. And I'll keep doing it till we have it all mapped out!"

Senjii laughed. "Good idea Naruto. Maybe next trip we take, we don't have to walk back."

* * *

One particular Naruto clone was flying faster than he thought possible as an extremely fast stream of wind had him hurtling fast through the atmosphere eastwards. For what felt like a little more than an hour he zoomed past clouds high above the ground. He felt the excitement and rush of flying and really wished he could learn to do this without streams.

He felt the stream start to weaken. And he thought it would be a slow descent like before. But this time, he suddenly was let go, the stream too weak to carry him anymore. He screamed as he fell to earth. As he broke the cloud bank he saw a village directly beneath him, a village that looked all too familiar.

The village Elders looked in disgust at Danzo as he apologized to the Daimyo profusely, helping him back up. The Daimyo was incensed.

"I do not think I will stay here any further, I've suffered enough embarrassment at the hands of your hospitality." He turned to go when they heard a growing scream.

They looked up just in time to see a half naked boy, (the clone was just wearing white pants) with yellow hair hit both of them at full force from a height of hundreds of feet.

The clone was instantly dissipated in a puff of smoke. Danzo and the Daimyo lay unconscious in the street.

Kakashi whistled low from a nearby rooftop. "Ok, that I did not expect."

* * *

_**Authors Note:**_

_**Hey readers. The response to this story has been great! I love some of the ideas I see in the reviews. If I use it, don't hate me **__****__**. I'll try to give credit for any idea I'm given, though some were already planned and great minds DO tend to think alike. Lol. This story is not going to have a timeskip sorry. I don't want to 'suddenly' see how powerful Naruto can be, or how great his village is. I actually enjoy thinking about the details of how it got there.**_

_**Its not the destination it's the journey.**_

* * *

_**Authors Addition to the Note:**_

_**Joshua The Evil Guy**__**: Much thanks for the uber-long review, and the ideas. As you see I've used one **__**.The other's we'd have to wait and see. If you wanna Beta for me still send me a PM!**_

_**Everyone thanks for the help with lil mistakes I've made. :)**_

* * *

_**Authors Appended PS to the Addition to the Note :**_

_**Check my profile for LINKS to artwork relevant to this story. I've done a MAP and A headband... not fantastic, but enough to keep me inspired to write a bit...lol**_

* * *


	8. Chapter 8 : The Magnificent Mabry

Chapter 8  
The Magnificent Milford Mabry!

* * *

The toad on her bed disappeared in a puff of smoke, its message delivered. Tsunade smiled incredulously and let tears form in her eyes. _The boy was safe._ She swung her legs over the side of the bed and flung on her robe. It was early, the sun had just come up but she knew where her newest apprentice would be.

As she walked out of the modest hut settled in the hills of the Fire Country, she heard the sounds of Sakura practicing. She stood at the doorway to watch for a few seconds.

Sakura was oblivious to Tsunade's presence. She cocked her hands to her sides in the traditional horse stance and prepared her chakra. She felt it swelling to her fists and she unleashed her right fist into the large boulder that eclipsed her. It hit with a solid 'whoomph'. Dust and rubble flew from the point of impact, leaving a hole much larger than the impact her fist should have made. Ever since Tsunade had shown her the secret of the _Futae no Kiwami_ she'd been practicing it. Days, weeks, months had gone by.

She concentrated on the process again in her head. Basically a double impact hit, the first punch with the proximal interphalangeal joint neutralizes the hardness of the target; then the second blow, struck with the proximal phalanx, breaks the target before it recovers from the force of the first blow. Of course this all needed to be done in milliseconds so that to the naked or even trained eye, it looks like one hit.

She released her breath and hit with the left fist this time. A similar puff of dust and pebbles erupted out of the boulder. Sakura allowed herself a small smile. She was getting there. She was getting stronger.

"Sakura!" Tsunade called out to her. "Come over here I have something to tell you."

* * *

Jiraiya landed with a thump in Tengoku, the river of wind getting no easier for the Sannin to traverse. He grumbled as he picked himself up and looked back the way he came. _I need to do something about making that entrance easier. And more secure too._

He hefted the bag on his shoulder and walked over to where he could see the tower being built in the distance. The steel beams that framed the structure were all up. The first floor had been completed and work was moving ahead briskly on the second. Even with all of Naruto's clones, this was as far as they'd gotten in two months. Well to be fair, they had needed to split the clones amongst the water plant, the wind turbines and the tower construction.

Still the tower was beginning to look impressive. Massive white stone walls lined the first floor, an intricate design was laid into the floor which Jiraiya could have sworn was marble. Guerrera was really a genius with his hands. It was in here that they all slept now, sleeping bags scattered over to one side of the massive room. The second floor was supposed to have bedrooms for them all, even if they would have to share the one bathroom they had planned for that floor.

Jiraiya grinned; they had all been so excited at the prospect of indoor plumbing once again.

"Hey!" He called out to one of the busy Naruto clones. "Where's the real one and everyone else?"

The clone stopped and lowered the tools in his hands. Jiraiya noticed that as usual, 'Naruto' was bareback. But this time he saw that he had grown in height a little bit, and that his muscles had gotten harder and bigger. All the manual labor was really paying off in strengthening his body, and that was translating into his clones.

"Well Naruto and Senjii took a break so they went to train down at the grounds. Tenchi and a bunch of us clones are running underground cables for the electricity, and Tazuna and Inari are running pipelines for the water plant into the tower. We're all really excited about being able to shower soon!"

With that 'Naruto' picked up his tools and joined back in the work on the second floor. Jiraiya turned on his heels and headed down to where Naruto and Senjii would be training. They had come to call it the 'training grounds' but it was really just a large flat meadow right outside of where they had mapped out the village they were building would be.

Before he arrived he heard the sounds of the training through the trees.

"Ready Naruto?" Senjii's voice called out loudly.

"Let her rip!" Naruto's voice then called out. Second later Jiraiya heard a whistle as something flew through the air; after which a loud 'BOOM' resonated through the meadow. He walked into the meadow and saw Naruto at one side palms facing forward. Senjii stood at the other side of the meadow laughing.

"Good block Naruto! Ready?" He asked again. Jiraiya watched in interest. Senjii grasped his blades and in one swift move sliced towards Naruto, causing a slash of energy and air to hurl towards him. The Sannin was alarmed until he saw Naruto grin and calmly push his palms forward and release a counter barrier of Chakra and Air. The two collided with an explosive force that had wind whipping at Jiraiya's face.

_Those two are either going to kill each other, or going to be the strongest warriors in the world._ Jiraiya frowned, honestly not knowing which option it would be.

"Hey brat!" Jiraiya called out. Naruto and Senjii waved at Jiraiya and walked over. "That wind affinity is really coming along isn't it." He said matter of factly.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. It's getting easier to convert my chakra to wind. I can almost feel the wind around me too. I don't know if it's because of where we are, in the windy place, but I can swear I'm almost feeling it all over me all the time."

Jiraiya frowned. If Naruto was beginning to feel the air, it wouldn't be long before he started to feel the chakra all around him. This sort of development was too fast, he hadn't made any arrangements to begin Sage training. He might need to step up his schedule to prevent his prized pupil from turning into a frog statue.

"Keep practicing boys." Jiraiya turned to go, "I'll talk to you tonight". He walked off determined to have a talk with Pa toad very very soon.

* * *

That night, as they sat around a small fireplace in the ground floor of the tower, Jiraiya relayed news to them.

"OK, so I've begun spreading rumors of Tengoku. My spy network is in full effect, looking for any clans who are in need of protection and somewhere to go."

Everyone greeted this with nods of approval. Ever since they had come here, they had been discussing the purpose of the village. And Naruto was most insistent that they protect the innocent, and shield those who needed it. He very much remembered what it was like to be persecuted and hated.

"I've also gotten in touch with Tsunade. She will be joining us with her apprentices soon." He looked curiously at Naruto. "Naruto, one of her apprentices is Sakura. After you were banished, Sakura abandoned Konoha and begged Tsunade to train her."

Naruto was startled, he had thought of his friends back in Konoha often, but not once did he think he'd be seeing one again so soon. He couldn't help but smile at that.

"So I've asked Tsunade to get in touch with someone I've used many times. She's far closer to his last location than I am."

"Who's that?" Tenchi asked curiously. The fire crackled as Senjii fed it another stick.

Jiraya chuckled softly. "Why the Magnificent Milford Mabry, that's who." Tenchi groaned and Naruto gasped.

"I remember him!" Naruto smiled widely. "He had done a free magic show for us when we were at the orphanage! He was great!"

Tenchi sighed. "Yes, Milford Mabry." He groaned again to himself - Naruto was explaining to Senjii and Inari how this lady was sawed in half, then her feet began kicking in the box – "That charlatan would indeed be useful."

Naruto stopped his animated description and turned back to the discussion. "How is a magician going to help us?" He glanced at the Kazumo clan and wondered if maybe a magic show to raise spirits was what Jiraiya had planned?

"Mabry is a find-it-man." Jiraiya explained. "Anything you need, no matter how rare it is, he can find it and supply it. I want to use him to set up supply lines for Tengoku. Food, medicine, clothing. Basic necessities as well as anything special we may need."

"Ohh.. " Naruto nodded in understanding.

"Moving on, I stopped in Getai village and had these made up." He tossed the first thing he pulled out of his bag at Naruto who caught it effortlessly.

It was a head protector with the symbol of Tengoku on it. Naruto held it tightly, a hundred emotions going through him. He remembered the feeling when his own headband was denied him after being banished. The feeling he had when Iruka had given him his headband personally. It felt….wrong to put on a headband to replace the Konoha one.

He looked up at everyone watching him. Naruto steeled his face and tied the band to his left arm, symbol facing out. They all seemed to understand, as Jiraiya passed them around, Senjii, Tenchi, Guerrera, Tora Kazumo. They all put on the bands on their left arm instead of their foreheads. The Kazimo children looked like they wanted the symbol themselves. But Old Man Tora explained to them how it was a symbol that only qualified warriors should wear. After they finish his basic training, they could get bands of their own. Naruto smiled, remembering his own eagerness to earn the Konoha leaf head band. The pride he felt when he earned it was so tangible.

Jiraiya smiled at the small family and how they supported Naruto. He slipped one more band out of the bag and tied it to his own arm.

"Good, we are now officially Archangels." He said tongue in cheek.

They all laughed. Old man Tora though stopped and asked a question. "Wait, speaking of that, do we want Tengoku to be recognized officially as a hidden ninja village by the other villages?"

They all went silent as they thought about that. Naruto hadn't thought about it at all.

"I'd say," Jiraiya spoke first, "that eventually we would want that but we're a good few years away from that being possible. We should focus on building a strong village first, before we try to approach the other villages for recognition. We do need to build our reputation though."

"Reputation?" Naruto asked.

Senjii explained it to him. "Our village is unknown, so we won't get jobs that hidden villages get normally. Protection jobs, assassinations, the normal stuff. Like what we were doing before, you and I, as freelancers."

Jiraiya nodded. "Yes, building the structures is important work, but so is building the reputation of our warriors. My spy network is already whispering the name Tengoku, but we need displays of prowess."

Tenchi looked at the younger warriors seriously. "That means that you Naruto and you Senjii must take some more jobs and execute them flawlessly. I think one job per month, so that you can split your time between here, building the village and outside, building the name. Either I, or Jiraiya will arrange these jobs for you. I think we can scrounge up work with our contacts?" He looked at Jiraiya who grinned in approval and held up one finger.

"Good that's settled. You will leave on your first mission in a week's time."

* * *

In a deep cave far away in the Land of Sound, a sallow face split into a large grin as he stalked the hall, slithering his way to the dimly lit room where his newest 'apprentice' was practicing. A dark chuckle escaped his thin pale lips as he saw the progress the young one was making with the help of the cursed seal and a few other minor adjustments he and Kabuto were doing to him.

The news he had just heard would add fuel to an already promising fire.

"Sasuke." He said, barely audibly. "We have heard a rumor of your old team mate… Naruto." The voice trailed out into a fit of other worldly giggles.

Sasuke grumbled. "What do I care?" He continued to swing his katana at the practice post.

Orochimaru grinned. "The rumor is he single-handedly wiped out an entire city filled with marauding pirates in his anger. That his anger was so righteous, that he smote them into oblivion with a wave of his hand." He giggled madly again. "I guess you have a long way to go to catch up to him."

He watched intently as the emotions played across Sasuke's face. Shock, disbelief, jealousy, anger, and finally resolve.

Sasuke tackled the post harder with the next swing, and the next, and the next.

Orochimaru chuckled to himself and closed the door to the training room.

* * *

Jiraiya eyed the entrance to the wind tunnel. Securing this entryway was a high priority, but a task he was loathe to do. It would require countless hours of seal making to get his idea just right, and he was no seal master. This would have to be temporary.

He sat down determinedly, and began to sketch out the first array of seals. Just then, a shadow fell across him and a familiar voice greeted him.

* * *

Senjii hefted the next large square stone onto his shoulders and took the steps to where it needed to go. He deposited it shortly thereafter on the pulley system they had rigged up. With a sigh of relief as the weight was no longer on his back, he wiped the sweat from his brow and looked up. The sun was blazing down on them. He know it was all in his mind, but he could have sworn that they were remarkably close to the sun, being this high up in the sky, as it mercilessly beat down upon them.

Suddenly he felt a presence coming at him from behind. He bent at the waist backwards just as the sound of a whip cracked where his head was a second ago. He twisted and landed on all fours, drawing his knees to his chest and springing forward towards his assailant.

He didn't recognize who the intruder was, a warrior who had a long red scarf around his neck, oddly shaped robes tucked into double toed soft shoes. The whip that had come close to hitting him was no whip, but the scarf itself.

There was something familiar about the enemy.

Senjii's lunge was blocked by a raised leg and the unknown warrior settled into a pose holding the scarf that Senjii recognized immediately. He rolled in the dust and sprang back up.

"Shit. Kire Kengeki." His swords were far away, so this was going to be a hard fight; however he had no intention of fighting back. His recognition of the fighting style led to his realization of his attacker.

"Hiroka?" He whispered under his breath as his attacker whipped the scarf towards him. It moved impossibly fast. Senjii could have sworn the material stretched beyond what it should have been able to. He ducked under it only to see it fold down and come after him. He spun out of the way, whirling his legs around to land on his back a yard to the left.

He knew that the Kire Kengeki user infused Chi – or as Naruto called it Chakra – into their weapon, which was always a form of cloth. Harmless looking, yet deadly.

The edge of the impossibly long scarf sliced into the ground where he lay seconds earlier, leaving a large cut in the earth. Senjii let a drop of sweat fall from his forehead. If that had hit him…

"Hey what are you doing?!" A Naruto clone shouted at the attacker. Three other clones came around the building then and saw what was going on. The attacker cursed and lashed out with the scarf. It billowed out, unfolding like a sail. As the Naruto clones charged, the scarf split into sections, each one impaling a clone in the arm, legs. Not a deadly wound if it was a person, but enough to make them erupt into puffs of smoke because they were clones.

The intruder turned back to Senjii who had gotten up, but hadn't attacked.

"Listen Hiroka—" He started to say. The tail end of the scarf hit him in the midsection, knocking the wind out of him. He flew backwards, looking on helplessly as strips of cloth snaked their way around him, binding his arms and legs. He hit the dirt trussed up like a turkey, the attacker jumping impossibly high into the air, other strips of cloth billowing behind her. She looked like a winged demon with the cloth forming wings behind her as she twisted and turned, to plummet heel first towards Senjii's tied up form.

He rolled to the side just barely enough for her foot to graze his forehead but not crush it. It was enough however to knock him unconscious.

The attacker stood proudly over Senjii bending down to grasp his face.

Fifteen Naruto clones exploded into the attacker, tackling her to the ground. When at least two Naruto's were holding arms, legs, head, pinning the attacker to the dirt, only then did Naruto ask.

"What the hell is going on?!"

Naruto ripped the mask off the intruder, to find a beautiful Chinese girl, probably eighteen or nineteen years old, muttering curses at him and spitting.

"Dài lǜmàozi!" She writhed against the restraints of Naruto's hands. "Cào nǐ niáng!" A long string of words that Naruto did not understand, but got the general idea were not very nice followed.

Jiraiya and Tenchi walked into the clearing, laughing. Tenchi walked up to the struggling attacker.

"Such bad language." His face stern. "Behave yourself daughter."

* * *

Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura entered the town to the sound of carnival music filtering its way down to them. The townspeople all looked jovial and excited. Tsunade scowled.

"We're in the right place." She motioned to the center of the small town where a large brightly colored wagon towered above the gathered crowd. In front of the wagon, was a tall gangly man, garishly dressed in a bright turquoise top hat with a matching jacket. His waistcoat was the color of gold, gleaming in the midday sun. The only thing that could have been any brighter was the smile on his face, teeth gleaming at the gathered crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! This is not a trick! This is…" his fingers flash and a large bouquet of flowers appears in his hand. "Magic!!"

The crowd claps appreciatively, children laughing at the display. Sakura turned to look at Tsunade, confused.

"Did he just do a summoning Jutsu in his hands without blood?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade shook her head in disgust. "No. Mabry doesn't know any Jutus, or have any chakra capacity or control. He's just a slight of hand artist. The best you're ever likely to see. He's also the best supplier in the named world."

They sat down to watch the show as Mabry flourished pigeons, blew fire, levitated a child from the crowd, and sawed his assistant in half. The crowd ate it up. Sakura marveled at the showmanship of the Magician. He had them eating out of his hands. They cheered, laughed, and called for more when the show was finally over. He thanked them all and went behind the curtain into his massive wagon.

Tsunade and Shizune got up, so Sakura followed suit. They walked through the happy dispersing crowd to the curtains. A very large woman blocked their path. She sported short bristled blonde hair, tattoos up down both arms, and one eyebrow that extended over both eyes. She was indeed a fearsome looking creature.

Tsunade walked right up to her face. There was an instant of recognition on the bodyguards face.

"Mistress Tsunade?" There was a question in her voice. Sakura saw a flash of fear, then a look of resolve. "You cannot go in. Mr. Mabry specifically told me if I ever saw you again…"

The bodyguard had no time to finish the sentence because Tsunade had grabbed the front of her shirt and lifted, then threw her to the side, sailing into a nearby water fountain.

Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura walked through the curtains into the Wagon of the Magnificent Milford Mabry.

He sat at a simple wooden table, drinking what Sakura guessed was scotch, looking all the while like he was waiting for Tsunade. He flashed her a half-hearted smile and poured himself another drink.

"I saw you in the back of the crowd earlier. Thanks for not disrupting the show. The kids were really enjoying it." His voice was somber and not at all like the personality on display outside.

"So how many did you find this time?" Tsunade asked, sitting down opposite him at the table. The creak of the wooden chairs competing with the tinkle of nearby chimes for the only sound in the room.

"Thirteen homeless children. Five severely beaten; my boys are out looking for the runner now." He said, anger clear in his voice.

Sakura looked baffled between Mabry and Tsunade. They clearly knew each other. Tsunade saw Sakura's puzzled expressions and sighed.

"Mabry here runs a home for homeless children. He takes exceptionally good care of them, raising any child from infancy until he's ready to leave or stay behind and help out. Most chose to stay. He's been doing this for, what? Twenty years?"

He cleared his throat. "Twenty two actually." He turned to look at Sakura. "See I was an orphan myself. I had to endure beatings and being on the street. Then I was taken in by who I thought was a kind man. He was a Child Runner. They sell children into slavery, prostitution, begging. It's a cruel torturous life for a child."

Realization washed over Sakura. "So you travel from town to town looking for children to save?" Her face cracked a wide smile of genuine affection. "You're a really nice man."

He shook his head in disgust. "No. No I'm not."

At that moment two younger men came bursting into the Wagon, throwing a greasy looking man onto the floor at the feet of Mabry. He looked down at the sniveling man dressed in what looked like hand me down finery. A whip lay curled at his belt. Mabry's eyes narrowed and he gave a sharp intake of breath. He grabbed the man by his throat and lifted him to his feet.

"You use that whip on the kids you enslave?" He asked at barely a whisper.

Sakura watched as the Child Runner pissed himself. _I guess facing an adult is a lot scarier than facing a child._ She turned to ask Tsunade a question when the sharp crack of a slap rang through the room. Mabry had back handed the man across his face. The blow left a large red welt on the man's face.

The man reached for his whip. Sakura was about to intervene when Tsunade grabbed her wrist. She shook her head at Sakura, signaling to let Mabry deal with it.

Mabry lifted the man even higher with his one hand on his throat. The Child Runner's feet no longer touched the wooden floor of the Wagon-room.

"Dax, Keino." He called out to the two young men who dragged the man inside. "Make sure that the children he beat up see his corpse on the nearest tree." With that he snapped the man's neck with his one hand and flung the body to the two men. They quickly picked it up and left the tent.

Mabry stalked back to the table and drank the rest of his scotch.

"So to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit my lady Tsunade?" He said with a small bow.

Tsunade cleared her throat. "I, …we… have a proposition for you."

Mabry took his hat off and put it on a rack. "We?"

"Jiraiya and I." She continued. "And his apprentice, Naruto."

Mabry stiffened. "Naruto? Jiraiya? Is this Naruto from Konoha?"

Sakura was startled. "You know Naruto?"

Mabry cursed under his breath. "Seven years ago I tried to take Naruto away from Konoha. He was beaten up, neglected. He would have done well away from such a bad environment. But the Hokage stopped me himself. Said Naruto was too valuable to the village and had to remain. We got into an actual fight over it." He took off his shirt. A long white scar ran diagonally across his chest. "That's how I got this scar. The old goat was better than I thought."

Sakura didn't know what else to say. This man had fought the Hokage, over the well-being of Naruto, a then-child who he hadn't known anything about beyond being neglected?

"So what's the proposal?" He asked as he pulled out another shirt from a cabinet and began to put it on.

Tsunade smiled. "We'd like you to set up a supply line to Heaven."

* * *

Senjii woke up several hours later. Night had fallen and they were all talking and laughing with the young lady who had intruded on their camp earlier. He sat up, rubbing his temple.

"Ow Hiroka.," he grimaced. "Why do you have to play so rough?"

The girl in question threw a look his way. "I had to make sure my ex-fiance hadn't gotten weak."

Naruto sighed audibly. He didn't understand exactly what was going on, no one was telling him anything. Senjii sulked off into the darkness to wash the blood off his face. Naruto followed him to make sure he was alright.

He caught up to him by the edge of the lake. "Sooo... your ex-fiance huh?" Naruto asked awkwardly, grinning like an idiot and rubbing the back of his head.

Senji grumbled and splashed the water on his face. "Yeah. Tenchi's daughter." He bent down to the lake again and cupped his hands in the moonlight.

"The only woman I've ever loved and will ever love. And I can never marry her." Senjii said with a finality that left no room for more questions.

Naruto didn't ask, just sat with his friend as they stared up at the moon, which seemed impossibly close.

* * *

Mabry cracked his whip over the four gigantic donkeys pulling his wagon. He waved down to Tsunade, Sakura and Shizune.

"Remember our deal Tsunade. You hold up your end, and I'll do my part." He grinned and took off his hat, waving it to the crowd of people cheering as he slowly drove off. The townsfolk only saw a great entertainer.

Shizune scowled and looked at Tsunade. "Why would you agree to that? How are we going to manage that?" She asked incredulously.

Sakura agreed, it seemed like an almost impossible task all things considered.

Tsunade shook her head. "It will be fine. Step one we find Mabry's orphanage using the map he gave us. Step two, we transport the entire building to Tenshikage, as well as every boy, girl and baby in the place. How hard can that be?" She asked with a glint in her eyes. "Why I bet we can make it in one week!"

* * *

_Konoha_

Shino leaned against the door nodding his head as Ino spoke to him. To anyone passing, it was just two teammates chatting in the evening after a day of missions. A more wary and observant eye may have noticed that neither seemed completely at ease. Or they may have noticed that Shino had several bugs scattered in a block radius.

The two teens were standing guard over that night's meeting of Naruto's Army.

Ever since the debacle that was the Daimyo's visit, the village had been a powder keg, just waiting to explode. Citizens and ninja alike were embarrassed by their Hokage Danzo. He had brought much shame to Konoha. Danzo himself had gone on a rampage looking for the source of his harassment, blaming Naruto's Army for it all. The 'Demon Sympathizers' would be captured and punished. Even Naruto's Army had no idea how it had happened, but the Kage Bunshin that hit the Daimyo and Danzo did 'look' like Naruto. And that was Naruto's favorite Jutsu.

But public opinion had turned. Danzo had no support for the common populace. He was now ruling with an iron fist, all semblance of democracy was slowly being peeled away. The council themselves were due to meet to discuss the situation. The general feeling and rumor was that they were going to remove Danzo.

Inside the meeting room, Kakashi had his Sharingan exposed. In case anyone got past the guards outside, he would immediately notice anything out of the ordinary.

"Tonight, the clan heads and the village elders will vote on Danzo's leadership abilities." Shinamora announced to the gathered Genin, Chunnin and Jounin. "I have it on good advice that the Hyuuga's are withdrawing their support for Danzo. They are one clan that does not handle embarrassment well."

Hinata nodded at that statement. She had overhead similar discussions, very heated ones, at her clan home.

"Danzo would be aware of this, and has to be planning something. He's a very smart political animal."

Kakashi nodded. Just then his Sharingan eye picked up on Lee arriving outside and saw as both Lee and Ino ran through the doors into the room.

Ino panted as she let the words spill out. "The village elders have been assassinated! Danzo has declared martial law! The ANBU are looking for the murderer Hatake Kakashi!"

* * *

Authors Note: Much thanks to my new beta Joshua the Evil guy!


	9. Chapter 9 : The Inquisition

**Chapter 9**

**The Inquisition**

Naruto strapped on his white sandals. He had finally gotten over his orange fetish and accepted that as a warrior of Tengoku he would wear white. The straps on the sandals snapped into place. He straightened up and ran his fingers through his hair. It had been almost eight months since he'd left Konoha and he hadn't had a haircut since. His spiky blonde hair was longer now; bushier; spikier if that was possibly. Naruto looked at himself in the mirror, one of the many supplies brought back in their material expeditions. He didn't look thirteen – well at least he didn't think so. His body had started to harden up from all the manual labor. He had grown a few inches as well. It was certainly not the same Naruto who left Konoha with nowhere to go that stared back at him from the mirror.

Naruto sighed and put on his white jacket over the white vest he had on. He left it unzipped and pushed the Tengoku 'armband' up his left arm, tying it securely above his left bicep. He didn't bother with a shuriken holster since he'd learnt how to make senbon out of wind. He had an unlimited supply as long as he had chakra, _And let's face it- _he thought to himself -_the one thing I have loads of is chakra._

Naruto grabbed a largo Bo staff he had gotten from Tenchi a few days ago. "Don't go getting this one broken too Naruto." Tenchi had warned him. "It takes me a lot of time and effort to carve these to have the perfect balance and weight. I won't be making you another anytime soon."

He took it to heart. Of course Tenchi failed to mention that standing not ten feet away was Guerrera –who was chuckling to himself - remembering when he broke Naruto's staff.

Naruto spun the Bo around him, twirling it and then bringing it to a sudden stop with a thump to his right, the base of one end landing perfectly on the ground. _Ready._

He strode outside of the temporary room that he had chosen on the completed second floor of the tower. He nodded to some of his clones as he walked past them. He hoped his clones would last until he came back from this mission. There was still so much work to be done to prepare this village.

He walked down the stairs to the ground floor where Jiraiya and Tenchi were waiting for him. He looked around but didn't see Senjii anywhere. His new friend had been slightly different since Hiroka had shown up; more serious, less outgoing. It was to Naruto as if the Senjii he knew had withdrawn into a shell.

Naruto needn't have worried about Senjii's whereabouts though, he appeared in the room besides him in a flash. Senjii had shrugged off his usual black clothes and also donned a white uniform, very similar to Naruto's. Senji had explained that he had his own reputation as 'Senjii the Dark Blade', but that he didn't want to go against the new look of their village. He had sounded very proud when he used the words "our village". Naruto couldn't help but smile.

In as much Senjii's clothes were now white, the style was much different from Naruto's. Senjii wore what could pass as a Monk's coat, except slim fitting. It was open to reveal a suit underneath, also all white. Not just any suit, but what Naruto would swear was a formal suit. Buttoned down shirt, slacks, shoes not sandals. Senjii looked like he was going to some formal event.

Naruto stood there in shock, mouth slightly agape.

Senjii looked at him and laughed. "Well we are representing the village. And as your bodyguard I thought I should look the part. We're going for being remembered here."

Jiraiya nodded. "He's right. In fact this mission has no financial reward."

Senjii almost fainted. "You mean this will be a freebie!?" He looked angrily between Tenchi and Jiraiya. "I've worked years just to build up a reputation where I don't HAVE to do freebies anymore! And now you want me to do it again?"

Jiraiya nodded with a smile. "Yes. You may have a reputation, but Tengoku does not." He turned to Naruto. "You will go to the city of Evora which lies south of here in the plains of the unnamed country. Naruto, your clones have proven to be very useful. I've drawn a map of where the wind streams we've charted head. One passes a few miles west of Evora."

Naruto nodded and looked at the map. It was at least a week's travel if they didn't use the wind stream. Unfortunately, he still hadn't found a river besides the main one to bring them back home. That meant a long trek back after they were done.

Senjii glanced at the map and noticed something. "Hey, at least one major stream goes to each hidden village. That's an odd coincidence isn't it?" he said, half asking a question at the end.

Tenchi nodded. "Don't worry about that right now, Jiraiya and I are still theorizing about that. For now, just focus on your mission. Evora is a Puritan city. Its inhabitants believe in righteousness and a higher power. Because of this any Chi user or Kekkai Genkai for example, is considered a demon or devil."

Jiraiya continued. "They routinely hold unsuspecting visitors to their city, and spend hours 'interrogating' them to see if they are indeed demons. This questioning is nothing more than torture designed to make people admit to anything, true or false. Sometimes they also raid nearby towns looking for demons to sacrifice to their god. They burn them at the stake."

Naruto looked sick to his stomach. That people could be that cruel…

"So," Senjii asked. He too looked a little pale. "We rescue any captives?"

Jiraiya nodded. He then looked at Naruto. "I want you to figure out a way to stop them from continuing this madness. If you can do it without destroying the city, then great. But if you must, use that Wind blast you used on Carachii."

Senjii glanced nervously at Naruto for a split second before Jiraiya continued. "And Naruto, if you can do it without going… well...all foxy on us, that would be best. We're trying to get people behind us, not afraid of us."

Naruto nodded, but he could already feel a lot of emotion inside him. Without a word, he and Senjii flashed out the entrance and towards the Wind Stream that would take them on their mission.

Jiraiya watched them go, a thoughtful frown on his face. Tenchi thought he could tell what he was thinking without having the gift of reading minds. "They'll be safe. Senjii is a strong warrior and he looks up to Naruto. They will protect each other."

Jiraiya shook his head. "No. I'm sure they'll be fine. I'm worried Naruto will go overboard and hurt someone he doesn't mean to. I don't think he's ready for that sort of guilt yet."

Tenchi looked out the doorway, now also deep in thought.

* * *

Naruto and Senjii leapt into the stream. Naruto's clones had put a clear marker by the stream so it was easy to find. The familiar yet still odd sensation of flying over took them. Naruto went headfirst this time, arms at his sides, Bo staff strapped to his back, enjoying the feel of wind around his body, the weightlessness.

Senjii folded his arms and assumed a lotus position. His body language was very easy to read, very much not pleased with this mode of transportation. They sped across the morning sky, high enough that someone on the ground could not see them if they looked up unless they had a Sharingan or Byakugan, and then only as a dot traveling impossibly fast.

The wind whipped around them, making conversation difficult. This was one of the faster streams that Naruto's clones had discovered so far. Within thirty minutes they neared the point at which they needed to leave the stream. Naruto glanced at Senjii who nodded at him. Senjii unfolded and grabbed onto Naruto's legs with one hand, essentially moving his body out of the way. Naruto faced back to where they had come from, and unleashed a palm thrust of chakra and wind. It was as powerful as he had used back in training to cancel Senjii's blade slices. It was strong enough here to temporarily disrupt the stream and let them fall out of it.

They had discussed this many times, how to get out of the stream. So Naruto was glad to see it work. However, the falling to the ground part he was not looking forward to. Jiraiya had said this method 'should' work.

'_Should work'_ Naruto thought. _'…but if it doesn't we'll be pancakes!'_

Senjii seemed to have complete faith in Naruto as he shifted his body in mid fall to be behind Naruto. Naruto faced the ground that was rushing up to them, and did the same move, but this time pumping a bit more chakra into it. The ground exploded just as they were about twenty feet above it. The concussive blast of the force acted as a cushion and actually pushed them back up slightly. Naruto and Senjii used the push to flip and arc over the blast area, landing on their feet with a solid thump.

Senjii immediately fell to his knees. "Thank the great Kami that that worked!" He exclaimed. Apparently his trust in Naruto was not one hundred percent absolute.

Naruto grinned. "I knew it would."

Senjii scoffed. "Yeah right." He looked back to where they almost landed. "Hey look at that."

Naruto turned and looked at what Senjii was pointing at. As the dust settled, two huge handprints were embedded in the ground where they would have landed. Senjii 's face split into a smile. "Well you've already left your mark on this area Naruto!" he walked off towards the village laughing.

* * *

Tsunade scowled as she looked at the ravine in front of her. Her patience had worn exceedingly thin. Walking miles and miles, even with the help of her slug summons, had been tiring. Of course, it was made worse with close to two hundred children of different ages complaining for the entire trip.

She swore, if one more snot nosed brat asked her if they were there yet, so help her she would…

"Mistress Tsunade?" Sakura's voice cut into her thoughts. "What do we do from here?"

Tsunade sighed and grabbed Sakura by the shoulders. With a small heave, she chucked Sakura into the ravine. She trusted Jiraiya implicitly where things like this was concerned, so it wasn't _really _a dangerous thing to do to Sakura. And if she got hurt, Tsunade could always fix her herself being a medic Nin and all that.

Sakura shot like an arrow up the ravine and up into the clouds. Tsunade gave it a minute then nodded to herself. Sakura had not come crashing and screaming back to earth, so she guessed it was safe.

She turned to the assorted children behind her. "Ok form a line, and come here one at a time."

* * *

An hour later, Tsunade herself burst through the clouds. She had let all the children come up first before tiredly jumping into the ravine herself.

As she landed on her feet with a thump, she noticed immediately that Sakura had taken control along with Shizune and organized all the children into a single group. The kids seemed in awe of where they were. Undoubtedly many of them wondered if they were really in 'Heaven'.

Jiraiya came walking over to smile at Tsunade.

"Glad you made it," he beamed at her, "…but where did you pick up the army of dwarves?" He laughed at her frustrated growl. She halfheartedly tried to punch him but he dodged it well. She looked around at the island.

"Wow you weren't kidding. This place is amazing." She started to walk to the land and paused. "Do you feel that?" She asked Jiraiya.

He frowned, he did have a weird feeling every time he was in Tengoku, but never bothered with it; he didn't like heights after all.

Tsunade closed her eyes and breathed in deep. The crisp air felt cold against her lungs… then she felt it again. "Chakra," she said. She opened her eyes and looked around.

"You said this is where all the wind of the world starts and comes back to? The air here is thick with Natural Energy." Tsunade kept walking. She herself never wanted to master the sage arts; she much preferred the science of Medicine. But that didn't mean that as a Sannin she couldn't feel Natural Energy around her.

Jiraiya cursed himself for not noticing sooner. He was a Sage, but never achieved perfect control. He really hadn't stopped to feel that energy around him, but now that Tsunade pointed it out, he couldn't help but feel it all around, invading his very pores.

He cursed verbally now. "Shit."

Tsunade turned to look at him, her eyes coming off the village area under construction. "What?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "Naruto has begun to feel the natural energy too."

Tsunade frowned. "He's had no training, how could that be?"

"He's a wind affinity," Jiraiya shrugged. "I guess as the wind here is laced with energy he is starting to become sensitive to it. The problem here is that this much natural energy is dangerous, he hasn't had any training. I had already decided to talk to Pa Toad, but I think I better do it now. When Naruto comes back, he needs to start Sage training."

Tsunade nodded. She stopped walking in front the tower under construction, impressed in spite of herself. It was looking massive and impressive, the third floor under construction and the white stones glimmering in the sunlight.

"OK, where do I unseal this damn orphanage," she asked, reaching behind her and pulling out a sealing box. That box had cost her a pretty penny, but it did manage to hold a building for two hundred orphans.

* * *

"How did he manage it?" Ino asked Shikamaru. News had spread fast of the murder of the two village elders. The ANBU and ROOT were both hunting Kakashi actively, so he had gone into hiding. Fortunately, enough Jounin were on the side of Naturo's Army that hiding wasn't proving too difficult…yet.

"I'm not sure," Shikamaru replied. The coroner had declared both Elders were killed by a lightning hand strike through their chests. In other words by Kakashi's signature move the _Chidori_. Since no one else in Konoha could execute that attack - except Sasuke who was definitely not in Konoha – that left only one suspect.

"However he did it, there's no doubt Danzo is making the most of it." A state of emergency had been declared in Konoha, temporarily suspending the powers of the council. This effectively left Danzo as Hokage until the suspension was lifted. It was a brilliant strategy Shikamaru had to admit, one he hadn't planned for.

The other Konoha Genin sat semi dejectedly around the room. The Jounins were all out 'searching' for Kakashi, so the original Naruto's Army was meeting without them.

"It's illogical to continue analyzing. We don't have enough data. All we can do is look ahead." Shino said.

Lee nodded. He was a man of action, all this thinking aggravated him. "We need to get rid of Danzo!" Lee said animatedly.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yes, but we're all Genin. We need to get much stronger if we're to have any chance against ANBU or ROOT." He looked at the assembled ninja. "When I look at us, you know what I see? I see the future of Konoha. I see the potential for greatness. Every man and woman in this room could be the best Ninja Konoha has ever seen. We need to refocus our strategies. " Shikamaru got up and began to pace the floor.

"Someone needs to infiltrate Danzo's office. That someone needs to earn his trust so we can have access to his plans."

"A spy!" Kiba exclaimed. Shikamary had a look of disgust on his face.

"Shh. That rules you out Kiba. You're about as subtle as a rock to the face." A snicker from Neji and Lee. Shikamaru looked at each of their faces, studying them carefully.

"Why not you Shika?" Ino asked.

Shikamaru shook his head. "No, he'd be suspicious of me from the start. The Hokage has access to aptitude tests and I score very high. He'd be wary of me. No, we need someone he'd never suspect, but that he could find useful."

He pointed at Ino. "You Ino."

"Ah!" She exclaimed. "Me? Why?"

"Your family abilities could be very useful to the Hokage's office. And you're a girl. Men typically underestimate women."

Shika looked at everyone else. "The rest of us have our own mission. We need to train. We need to get stronger. But don't let anyone know how strong we're getting."

Shino nodded. "That is sound logic. No one will see Genin as a threat. And if we increase our abilities up to Chunin or even Jounin level, we'd have the tactical advantage."

Shikamaru smiled. "Yes exactly. We don't know as yet what Danzo is planning, but we will. And we will be ready."

* * *

Danzo chuckled. The latest report said that Kakashi still hadn't been found. That was good news as far as he was concerned. As long as Kakashi was out there, he was the perfect scapegoat.

After all, who else could possibly learn the _Chidori_? He laughed out loud in the silence of his office, the Sharingan eye hidden behind the bandages on the left side of his face spinning madly.

* * *

Naruto and Senjii stared down at the village below them. From their vantage point on a hill outside of town, it was an impressive sight. This was like no village they had ever seen before. The buildings were huge, and numerous, the town was easily twice as large as Konoha was. In the very center was a Cathedral that towered above the other buildings, its bell towers reaching up like dark spires into the sky.

Naruto shuddered - this place had a bad feeling to it.

"OK, so how do we find the captives?" Senjii asked Naruto, not taking his eyes off the village. He didn't want anyone to take them by surprise. Not far from them were two guards on the west entrance to the village.

Naruto scratched his head. "Well, I guess the easiest thing to do is…ask?"

Senjii turned to look at him puzzled. But Naruto had tossed his Bo staff to Senjii and then _Hiraishin'd _to right in front the guards.

"What the..!" One of the guards almost fell back on his ass. The other lowered his spear to point it at Naruto.

"Excuse me," Naruto asked innocently. "Where do you hold Chakra users like me?"

The guard who had almost fallen down threw a net over Naruto and they both pointed their spears at him. "Ha! Caught you now demon!" Naruto bowed his head but looked back to where Senjii was, hidden out of sight.

Senjii cursed until he caught sight of Naruto's smile. _Damn that fool, he wanted to get caught so they would take him to the others._ Senjii muttered to himself about the recklessness of his friend, and decided to follow the captive Naruto as the guards marched him into the city at the point of their spears.

He followed them jumping on rooftops, flash stepping as fast as he could from chimney to chimney, trying to stay out of sight. He watched as they pushed Naruto and tripped him, making him fall to the cobblestone floor. They laughed and Senjii had to try hard not to cut them to pieces where they stood.

They led him straight into an ominous looking building just short of the grand cathedral itself. With a word to the guards posted in front that building, they pushed Naruto inside and followed. Senjii could no longer see what was happening.

He sat down on the roof he was perched on and decided to give Naruto one day before he killed every man who was holding Naruto prisoner.

* * *

Naruto smiled as the bars slammed shut behind him. The guards laughed and left without a glance backwards. They clearly underestimated him, Naruto thought. He looked around his new accommodation. A small eight by eight cell it looked like stone floors and iron bars. Naruto could feel other eyes on him. In the cell next to him in the very darkest of shadows, he saw two feet sticking out.

"Hello?" Naruto asked of the darkness. "Who's there? I've come to rescue you."

"Hah hah hah!" A young male voice came from the shadows. "Some rescue attempt." There was a scraping noise and a figure emerged. It was a teenage boy, maybe seventeen years old. He was the oddest looking boy Naruto had ever seen. For one thing his skin was as black as his hair. His hair was thick and curly, in finger length bunches. His clothes were frayed, in a brown tunic and beige slacks with a rope belt. He approached the bars and put his hands on them.

"So how exactly did you plan to rescue us?" The boy glanced at Naruto's white clothing and snickered. "I'll assume you are a magic user like the rest of us. But have you tried channeling since you entered the city?"

Naruto shrugged and did the hand seal for a shadow clone, just as he'd done thousands of times before. This time however it felt like a weight was resting on him, like a giant sponge had just hit him in the chest. Nothing happened. No smoke, no shadow clone. Nothing.

The boy nodded. "See? The entire city is shrouded by a Magic Dampener. None of our techniques work."

Naruto saw that there were more cells in the darkness, and each had one or several people in them. His eyes were getting used to the darkness. Men, women, children. All kinds were sitting or standing in their cells. The same look of hopelessness on all their faces.

He clenched his fists in anger, the inhumanity getting to him. He sat down and tried to think of a way out of this without chakra.

* * *

Senjii woke up on the same rooftop he had been keeping watch. He yawned and scratched his neck. Tiled rooftop was not the most comfortable place in the world to fall asleep. He heard some guards talking about the Demon cleansing ritual they would be holding today.

"Them damn demons will be sent back to hell!" One clearly enlightened and educated man exclaimed.

"That's right!" The next chimed in. "The cleansing fire will send them back to the damnation from whence they came."

"Amen brother. Sister Agnes assured me that I would get to light at least one pillar myself!"

"You're kidding! What an honor! What did you have to do to gain such privilege?"

"My cousin from the Land of Snow brought the new parts for the Demon Suppressor. I helped arrange it." The man said proudly.

Senjii's head cocked to the side. This Demon Suppressor sounded interesting. He'd need to do some investigating into it. He hoped Naruto was doing OK.

* * *

"I hope Senjii is doing OK," Naruto sighed. All his attempts to blow his way out of the cell failed miserably. He couldn't mold chakra at all. He tried kicking at the bars, but without chakra enhancing his attacks, his body wasn't strong enough to do any damage at all.

So Naruto had sat down and put his mental capacity to work at getting out of this situation. When he had surrendered, he had just wanted to find the prisoners. Well he had found them, but he hadn't expected to be helpless. It was a weird sensation.

He looked across at the dark skinned teenage boy across in the next cell.

"Hey you." He ventured. "What's your name?"

The boy looked across at Naruto, his black eyes stark even in the dim light. "I'm Nagi Mikihara. What's your name kid?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." He replied. "Where are you from Nagi? I've never met someone who looks like you." Naruto stated bluntly.

Nagi looked intently at Naruto. "Are you afraid of me Naruto? Does my color frighten you?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well not really. I mean my friend Lee becomes red sometimes when he fights. That seems much scarier than you are right now. Especially with the way Lee fights."

Nagi stared incredulously at Naruto. Years of hatred and persecution, and he'd never met someone who had brushed aside his complexion so easily.

"Um… I don't know where I'm from. I was raised by my adoptive parents in a village far from here, but decided to find my own way as soon as I could." Nagi replied earnestly.

Naruto smiled at him. "Well if you want, when we get out of here, you can come and be a part of my Village." He lifted his voice for all the prisoners to hear. "That goes for everyone. All are welcome in Tengoku."

This was greeted by some murmuring. Nagi snapped at Naruto angrily. "Stop saying foolishness like that. There is no rescue, there is no after here. We're going to be executed today and there's no escape from that fact." His face became sad. "Sorry kid. There's just no way out."

"Psst Naruto," Senjii's whispered voice almost echoed in the dungeon. "You ready to make a move yet? I'm getting bored out here."

Naruto looked up startled. Senjii's voice came from a small opening to let some light in the cells.

"Senjii, I can't mold any chakra. None at all. So I'm stuck for now." Naruto replied.

"Ohhh." Senjii exclaimed knowingly. "Now it makes sense. OK, I'll take care of that. You just be ready to make your move." With that Senjii melted back into the street and took once again to the rooftops. He just needed to find someone who could show him where the 'Demon Suppressor' was. Piece of cake.

Naruto turned to the shocked Nagi. "Offer is still open, think about it after."

* * *

_30 minutes later_

Naruto, Nagi and a five member family of 'magic' users were tied to wooden posts inside the huge cathedral. People were still filing in, anxious apparently to witness the cleansing.

"Your friend hasn't come through as yet." Nagi said, semi-panicked. Naruto assumed that anyone would be tied to a stake and about to be burned alive.

He however felt fairly calm. He trusted Senjii.

"He will. Believe it!" Nagi stared incredulously at Naruto again. He hoped he wasn't this cheerily optimistic all the time.

The high priest and his attendants marched in behind the stakes.

"Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Flame, tonight we have come to witness once again the ritual that gives us everlasting life. The ritual that lifts up our spirits and brings us closer to our Lord Seti. " He held up a large bronze staff with curling snakes on it. Naruto shuddered involuntarily as he thought of Orochimaru.

"These 'Demons' have confessed to me privately that they came here looking for souls to devour and turn against our lord Seti!" There were audible gasps from the crowd, along with cries of 'no' and 'burn them'.

Naruto moved to speak but a guard stepped forward and clubbed him in the stomach with the back of his spear.

Naruto spit out blood and doubled over as far as the binding ropes would let him. "Anytime now Senjii," he whispered under his breathe.

It took just one second. Over the sound of the crowd laughing a Naruto being hit, he heard a familiar whistle. The noise Naruto had come to know was the slash of Senjii's blade. Naruto stayed perfectly still as the air ripple sliced into the ropes all around him. Senjii appeared in the door to the Cathedral.

"I'm still looking Naruto. You do what you can here until I can find it OK?" Senjii called out before disappearing.

Naruto nodded and took a fighting stance. He may not be able to mold Chakra right now, but he was still a Ninja and damn it if he was going to show these _Baka_ his Taijutsu.

"Naruto, release me, I can help." Nagi said urgently. Naruto grabbed a spear from a still in shock guard and sliced the ropes holding Nagi.

The Head Priest now snapped out of his own shock. "Guards! Call the Defenders of Seti! Everyone! The Demon's are free!"

Many in the gathering of people screamed and made a run for the door. Some surged forward though, to recapture the demons.

Naruto jumped and whirlwind kicked the first guard in the face, sending him reeling back into the arms of his colleague. Naruto landed crouched, spinning again and swiping the catching guard off his feet.

He glanced over to see what Nagi was doing and paused for a second to stare in wonder.

Nagi was dancing.

There was no other way for Naruto to describe it. Nagi stepped left, then right, his back leg sweeping behind him, to some unheard rhythm in his head. As a guard approached Nagi bent at the waist and touched his palm to the floor, bringing the back leg up in an incredibly swift kick. He sent the guard flying. Nagi spun around and was back in the dance, staring down the other guards, trying to decide who to attack next.

Naruto took the decision out of their hands and lunged at them.

* * *

Senjii slapped the man across the face again. "Where is it? The next time I ask won't be pretty."

The guard laughed and spat at Senjii. Senjii smiled and in a blink of an eye, severed the man's left hand. As he lay screaming, Senjii re-sheathed his sword.

"Are you going to make me ask again? A man can live with one hand, but none, why you wouldn't even make a proper beggar now would you."

* * *

Naruto managed to untie the other family in the melee. They however chose to try to escape instead of staying to help. Naruto was glad they did. The father didn't seem like much of a fighter, and Naruto didn't need to see any new Orphans get created today.

Nagi was holding his own for now, his dancing martial arts impressing Naruto whenever he had a chance to see it.

There were many more guards than Naruto anticipated however, hundreds poured into the Cathedral. Naruto had to admit even he couldn't hold them off for much longer. He spun around and backhanded a guard across his face. He flipped backwards over a lunging spear.

No, not long at all.

* * *

Senjii stared at the metal box under the bell in the Cathedral bell tower. He scratched his head. "How do I turn this off?"

He shrugged and bent at the knees. Seconds later his sword sliced right through the machine where the words "_Prototype: Property of Doto Kazahana. Please return if found_" were printed.

* * *

Naruto felt it, the surge of power coming back to him. It was as if someone had turned on a light switch. He took a breath and made one hundred shadow clones. They all smiled at the stunned guards then surged forward.

Naruto glanced across at Nagi who should have also gotten access to his chakra back. It was an amazing sight.

Nagi spun and kicked the nearest guard. But his kick ended with him melting into the shadows on the ground. He emerged from another shadow to do a somersault kick and landed, once again disappearing completely into the shadows on the ground.

Naruto had never seen anything like it. He knew Shikamaru could control his Shadow, but this was something else. It was as if Nagi WAS a shadow.

The High Priest shouted once again. "Kill them! Kill the demons!"

The guards surged forward with spears and swords and crossbows. Naruto gathered his Chakra and pushed. His practice paying off immensely as a huge chunk of guards were flung backwards.

He was thrown forward as a blast of fire hit him from behind. He could feel his scorched skin burn and sizzle, even as the Kyuubi chakra worked to heal him.

He turned to see the High Priest pointing his staff at Nagi. "Burn Demon!" he shouted. "Feel the miracle of Seti!" Another long flame of fire burst from the staff. Nagi however melted into the shadows.

Naruto grew angry. That was no miracle, that was Chakra.

"You!" Naruto raged at the man. "You can use Chakra! Why! Why are you killing people like you!"

The man snarled at him. "I am nothing like you. I serve the Lord Seti! He gives me the power to serve his will!"

He leveled the staff at Naruto and blasted at him. A ball of energy exploding the ground where Naruto was a second ago. Naruto Hiraishin'ed to the last place he saw Nagi disappear.

"Nagi if you're here still get out of the Village now." Naruto's voice was steely. "Get some distance away, I have something to finish here."

The shadow to Naruto's left shifted slightly then seemed to melt through the rock wall.

Naruto turned back his full attention to the high priest, a little too late though as the man hit him under the chin with the staff, sending him up into the air. He then blasted Naruto with an energy ball, cackling madly as he did it. Naruto was sent crashing through the ceiling of the Cathedral and flying straight up into the evening sky. He could once again feel his skin start to heal even as he headed up into the sky. As he reached the peak of his ascent, he started to gather his chakra. He could feel the wind whipping at him and he almost felt as if it lent him some strength as well. He began to hurtled back down to earth the village far below.

He hoped Senjii was clear too.

Senjii in fact was looking up at Naruto from the courtyard of the prison near the Cathedral. He was covering for the exit of the other prisoners. They were all gone and he was just decimating guards when he looked up and saw Naruto plummeting. At first he was worried about his friend, falling from that height…

Then he cursed and ran; flash stepping as fast as he could away from the center of the village. Naruto knew a way to stop his fall from that height, but it would mean…

He cleared the village gate just as he felt the Chakra surge.

Naruto had gathered an immense amount of Chakra, and pushed down, using the technique he had used when they first arrived on the wind stream.

The blast was immense. Huge hands of Chakra flattened the stone buildings into rubble, dust erupting all around. The cackling of the high priest drowned out by the tumultuous destruction of the city.

Like before, the blast create a cushion for Naruto to bounce off of, and flip to safety outside the blast area. It was still a long fall, but he channeled some Chakra to his legs to help him land without breaking them. It left a small impact crater where he landed.

The dust was still pluming into the evening sky when Senjii found Naruto. He was staring at the imprints in the landscape from a nearby hilltop. Two giant hands embedded in the ground, where the village had once stood. Nothing left but a few stone walls on the outskirts and a sign on a road that read "Sinners and Demons beware".

Nagi materialized out of a nearby shadow and whistled. He looked from the destruction to Naruto.

"Sooo… where exactly is this village of yours?"

* * *

Naruto, Nagi and Senjii trudged along the dirt road. Once again Naruto wished they could find a wind stream to take them home. They were a week, maybe more, away from Tengoku on foot. Senjii had immediately bonded with Nagi. They were all warriors at heart, so finding something in common was easy.

"I hate walking." Senjii grumbled. His face lit up. "Hey Naruto, how about we toss you into the air and see if we can't find a wind stream back home?"

Nagi grinned too, an evil light in his eyes. Naruto stepped backwards… they wouldn't.

Nagi disappeared into the ground and Senjii lunged forward in a flash step. Naruto began to Hiraishin away, laughing at the play, when two hands shot out of the shadow on the ground and held his ankles.

Before he knew it, he was laying across the outstretched and interlocked arms of Nagi and Senjii.

"Wait guys, I'm not sure."

"…3" The two teenagers shouted, bypassing both numbers one and two. They shot Naruto far into the air. He waved his arms futilely, no stream up here, and began to plummet to earth. He was going to use his Chakra push to brace his fall but then he realized his friends were below him. He swung his legs below and pumped chakra into them, hoping to cushion as much of the landing as he could.

Just before he hit the ground, a large hand reached between Nagi and Senjii and grabbed Naruto by the back of his shirt, keeping him from hitting the ground.

They swiftly looked at the oddly dressed large man who had appeared before them, and then at the large wagon rolling into the meadow behind him.

"Greetings! I am..." the man began to speak.

Naruto finished the sentence excitedly. "…the Magnificent Milford Mabry!!"

* * *

Authors notes: Once again thanks to my super awesome wicked cool Beta!! The Evil Joshua!

On some review questions:

* Not bringing anyone back from the dead. Sorry. No Mrs. Uzumaki. Naruto is an orphan.

*Every single country in the map I created (you can view it in my profile) will be used in different story arcs. Some small, one or two extremely large.

*Time wise, we are coming up on a year since Naruto was banished.

*If you're waiting for any sort of SHIP with Naruto, wrong story sorry.

*If you are interested in being in my story, send me a NAME, a SYNOPSIS of your character and any abilities or affinities (or none) you have. You can be good or evil. The best ones I will use. Cheers!! If all suck I'll throw it in the ignore pile

*Updates are slow I know. Sorry. Working full time. Trying my best to give decent size chapters.

Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10 : Three Man Team

**Chapter 10**

**Three Man Team**

* * *

Naruto, Senjii and Nagi sat quietly on top the wagon. It really was a magnificent vehicle, easily the size of a house. The wheels alone stood taller than a man. With brightly colored canvas and brass piping as a visible frame, it looked as ostentatious as the owner. The wheels turned again slowly, as Mabry snapped a whip at the enormous donkeys pulling the wagon.

Mabry had greeted them warmly and explained to Naruto how he had met up with Tsunade and was working for Tengoku now. Naruto had greeted him warmly and gushed about how he remembered him when he was a child, and the magic show Mabry had put on.

At the end of it, Mabry had told them he needed help setting up one piece of their supply line, and asked Naruto to come along. Naruto happily, yet in a serious manner, agreed. This was important to his new village so it had to be done. Senjii of course agreed, Nagi tagged along to learn more about his new friends.

Mabry steered the wagon, thinking. He hadn't really needed the help, but if he was going to be affiliated with Tengoku, he wanted to know what kind of man Naruto was growing up to be. This test would either settle his fears, or justify them.

The wagon turned slowly down the path to the City of Garene. Mabry called out to Naruto and the other teenagers.

"Naruto! Kids, come down here!"

They clambered down off the wagon and landed on the ground next to the wagon driver seat.

"OK," Mabry began. "This city is called Garene. Here I will be meeting up with a major link in the food supply chain. However, I will also be putting on a show. I've been in this town before and there is a mobster here who will try to shake down our show. I sent my two aides to another city already to help with the supply link, so it's just you guys and me. I need you to protect me while I'm here."

Naruto looked up at the almost seven foot tall man with a grin. "Sure we'll protect you Mr. Mabry. You're a citizen of Tengoku after all."

Senjii watched him a bit more slyly. Mabry did not look like the kind of man who needed protection. Senjii had been around a lot of people, and The Magnificent Milford Mabry was definitely a fighter.

Nagi looked between Naruto, Senjii and Mabry. Something was up. Nagi had a good vibe from Naruto, but Mabry was up to something.

Naruto suddenly had a startled expression on his face, which turned into a sad one, then into a smile.

"What's up Naruto?" Senjii asked.

Naruto smiled "Well, with you, me and Nagi, we're now a three man cell. I was just remembering the first team I was on that's all." Naruto turned towards the town. "Let's get this mission done and head home OK?"

* * *

Tsunade watched in amusement as the Naruto clones went about cleaning the orphanage like a small army. She had already gotten over her surprise at how long they were lasting. Naruto was a near bottom less pit of chakra, and he had poured a lot into these so they would last for as long as he was gone.

She had never been good with children, so she was very glad that Sakura, Shizune and surprisingly the big bruiser Guerrera, was there. He had shown to have a huge soft spot for children and they absolutely loved him.

The white tower's third floor was almost complete. The water had been run to both it and the orphanage. Tazuna and Inari had chipped in to help install the Wind Turbines as well and they all hoped to have electricity up and running within the week.

Jiraiya had been making plans and drawing maps since Naruto had left. The creation of a new city required many things besides infrastructure. The village needed to have life. It needed to breathe and have a flow. Money needed to come into and out of the city. Food and supplies were already arranged with Mabry.

Jiraiya was also working on the entry to the island. So far, despite all the clones searching, they had found only the one way up. Many rivers down were already mapped out, but no others back up had been discovered yet. He had started a complex set of seals along the tunnel to Tengoku. He was tying the seals to the blood of the residents. His intention was a drop of blood had to be given inside the white tower before anyone could ride the river into the city. So basically you had to either be a resident, or a resident had to grant you access and bring a drop of your blood to the city first. Anyone who didn't and jumped in the river would be destroyed by a series of chakra traps.

It wasn't perfect, but it would do for now.

His spies had also sent along some information. Akatsuki was still quiet. No movements on their side so Jiraiya still felt like he had some time before they became a threat. Also Konoha seemed to be in upheaval. Danzo had declared martial law, and was making advances into Iwagakure territory. A war was definitely brewing on that front.

He sighed heavily. Tengoku was halfway around the world, but he was sure it would affect Naruto. However, this was no time to get involved in something like that. Not when they were now building a new life.

Jiraiya looked at the list of things he wanted to do today. He steeled himself and performed the summoning jutsu. In a puff of smoke, a pair of old toads appeared on the desk.

"Pa, Ma. How are you?" Jiraiya asked with a smile.

"Could be better young Jiraiya, my hip has been giving me a lot of trouble," Pa toad responded as he shifted slightly on the desk.

"Have you been eating properly?" Ma toad asked with concern. "You look a little thin."

Jiraiya grinned. "I'm fine Ma. I have something to ask you."

Pa and Ma looked up with serious faces.

"There's this boy named Naruto…" Jiraiya started. He hoped his explanation would help convince them to start training him in the sage arts a little earlier than normal.

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Mabry said at the top of his lungs to a quickly gathering crowd. "Do you believe in Magic??" He flourished his arms and white doves flew from his previously empty hands. The crowd laughed appreciatively and clapped.

Naruto could barely take his eyes off the captivating magician. He didn't really remember the specific act Mabry had done when he was a child, but he did remember the feeling of awe and wonder he felt. The crowd was clearly reacting in the same way. Naruto was so entranced by Mabry, that he noticed when the magician's eyes locked onto someone in the crowd and a strange look crossed his face.

Naruto followed his gaze to a girl in the crowd. She wasn't looking at the show as such, instead she was very quietly passing in between people and pick pocketing them. Naruto looked sadly at her. Her dress was a simple one made of what looked like brown canvas, with a simple ribbon tied in her auburn hair. She had to be about ten or eleven years old. Naruto spied Mabry glancing at her several times during his performance. She disappeared into the crowd again, only to reappear on the far side close to an alleyway. Mabry seemed completely engrossed in his latest magic trick now, and didn't seem concerned with the girl anymore. Naruto looked over to where Nagi and Senjii were passing around with bowls for donations from the crowd for the magician. They hadn't seen the girl, and something about her made Naruto want to find out where she went.

He slipped out of the crowd and into the alley where she had disappeared. Despite it being the middle of the day, the darkness in the alley was overpowering and oppressive. It actually gave him the urge to leave the alley far behind and forget his quest, but he pushed on through.

As he walked further and further down the alleyway, that feeling of darkness grew stronger. He peeked around a corner to see the same girl handing wallets and cash over to a tall black clad man. There were two other boys there, both also holding wallets and money.

The strange man's clothing bothered Naruto. It was tattered and torn. A deep black that seemed to absorb the light around it. There was a sense of filth around the man whose face Naruto could not see under a head of long shoulder length frizzy hair and a black top hat which was slightly askew.

A deep throaty cackle escaped from the man as the little girl handed over the money.

"See how easy it was Mirrun? That's a good girl. Stealing is easy, and now you can eat dinner. Maybe even get yourself a real dress."

Tears were rolling down the little girl's face – she looked absolutely defeated and lost. As did the other children around the man.

Naruto stepped into the alley, feeling his rage build up inside him. "Hey you! Leave them alone!"

The man looked up at Naruto and seemed genuinely startled. "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

Naruto replied "Don't mind that! Just step away from the girl!"

The man cocked his head to the side and pulled the girl into him, holding her there. He laughed and pointed at Naruto. A beam of black energy raced from his finger to hit Naruto square in the chest. Naruto flew back several feet to impact into the bare brick wall behind him.

He fell to the ground in a heap of dust and brick fragments. Naruto pushed himself up, coughing a little blood. _That hurt._

Naruto felt like his chest was raw where the beam hit, but knew he was already healing from the blast. He stood up, much to the amazement of the man before him.

"Very few can take a Shadow Blast and live, much less stand back up." The man let go of the little girl and glided towards Naruto. His hair shifted from his face to reveal he had no face, just a bleached white skull. "What are you young one?" the skull-man asked as it got closer.

Naruto felt a pang of fear grip him, and in his panic shoved a wind-chakra blast towards the man. It hit him dead center yet didn't seem to faze him. He did however stop in his tracks and look down at where he was hit.

"Ah…wind. Interesting. You must have some ability to be able to withstand my attack. I, Ji-Hoon, will soon find out what it is. "

Naruto kicked out, only to have his leg caught be the 'man' and thrown aside. Ice-like fingers wrapped around Naruto's throat and the skull came right up to his face. Tiny red lights deep in the eye sockets glowered at Naruto. "So tell me your secrets young ninja." The voice growled at him.

Naruto felt his skin getting hot and his eyes changing. When he opened them, his iris were slit and a pale orange glow had overtaken his body. With a voice Naruto knew to not be his own, he growled.

"Get… your… hands… off… me…" A sudden blast of orange fire and the man shrieked and flew backwards clutching his hand. Naruto stood there, feeling the rage inside him, felt himself losing control. He struggled to push it back down, to bury it again and lock it away.

The man's hand had withered away, ashes still falling from where it once was. He looked over at Naruto. "Kyuubi," was all he said, spitting it out with disgust and fear. The man shrieked once more and disappeared in an explosion of black dust and smoke.

Naruto was left panting, struggling with his rage. The four children approached him, three boys and one girl. Naruto noticed they had no fear as they approached him.

"Stay away!" Naruto growled. "Just give me a second," Naruto held up his hand and pushed the anger back down. The children just looked at him curiously.

After a few seconds Naruto stood up and looked around. _Yup, that freak is gone._ He looked down at the children in front of him. The girl, Mirrun the skull-man had called her, was very pretty even though she was grimy. Her eyes were what caught Naruto off guard. They were a shimmering gold.

The two boys also came close enough for Naruto to look them over. "What are your names?" he asked.

The first boy to speak up looked like he was also ten. He had shockingly blue hair which was spiked very similarly to Naruto's. "I am Syran. Why did you scare Mr. Ji-Hoon away? Mr. Ji-Hoon looks after us."

Mirrun started to cry. "What will we do now? Will Mr. Ji-Hoon come back Gen?" she asked the second boy. This one had a strip of cloth over his eyes and a short staff in his hand, clearly used to guide him as he walked.

"I don't know Mirrun. We will just have to wait and see," his voice was pained as he said this.

Naruto looked at them puzzled. "Why are you sad to see that monster go? He was making you steal to survive!"

Syren looked at Naruto with anger. "What do you know about growing up an orphan? You think it's easy to live on the streets? Mr. Ji-Hoon cared about us. He made sure no one came near us."

Naruto grew angry. "No he USED you! I was an orphan too! I've met people like him before! Well maybe not like him cause he was a monster, but I met people who wanted to use you and that's all you were to them. A thing to be used and thrown away."

The other boy Gen spoke up. "It doesn't matter. Once he's here, we're safe. Once we do what he asks, no one harms us. You should leave."

Naruto stared at them incredulously. "Are you joking, is this the life you want? Stealing and scrounging for someone else? No, I can offer you more than this."

Mirrun looked up at him through her tear filled eyes. "What do you mean?"

Naruto straightened his back. "Would you three like to come with me to my new village? We are still building it, but we will eventually be the best and strongest hidden village in the world. We're starting a warrior academy for those who want to fight, a normal school for those who don't. I offer you food, shelter, a life, a NEW life."

The children stared at him. No one had ever offered them anything that sounded so good before.

"It's not real, you want something from us," Syren said stepping back. "No one would make us an offer like that without wanting something in return."

"I do want something in return," Naruto said looking at them with steely blue eyes. "I want you to be free and happy. I was alone too. I made the choice to not go down the path of darkness. I lost a friend to that path. Come with me and find a new life. If you don't like it, you can leave at any time. You have my word on that."

The children looked at each other, even Gen moved his head towards the others making it seem like he was seeing them. Gen actually 'looked' over at Naruto. "You're not human either. You're like Mr. Ji-Hoon, so if he's so bad, why should we trust you?"

Naruto was shocked. As he was about to ask why the boy thought he wasn't human, angry voices poured into the alley behind him. He noticed that the dark feeling that made him not want to enter the alley had left with Ji-Hoon. Around the corner came a mob of angry robbed citizens.

"There they are!" One man shouted.

"Those damn pickpocket kids! Let's show them!" Another growled as the mob charged.

Naruto stood in front of them and started to physically block the attacks using nothing but taijutsu. He blocked, spun, kicked and punched, keeping the mob at bay while the children stood behind him. Naruto didn't want to harm the citizens, they did have a right to be mad, but at the same time, he didn't want them harming the kids.

A few snuck past Naruto though on the far wall of the alley and were rushing the kids. As Naruto turned to head them off and defend the kids, he saw Mirrun move in a blur and dodge the attacks, appearing high on a ledge in the alley.

Syren jumped up and became a geyser of water that bounced from wall to wall, until also landing on the ledge next to Mirrun and transformed back into himself.

Gen though, was an artist. Naruto felt it when it happened, but he couldn't explain it. Gen slammed the end of his stick down into the ground and released a burst of chakra in a circle around him. He then dodged and ducked and weaved his way through the crowd in a way no blind boy should be able to. He didn't harm a single person but ended up on top a garbage bin and jumped from ledge to ledge until he too was sitting high up next to Mirrun.

Naruto paused for a second and smirked. The mob had paused as well. _They're definitely joining our Warrior __Academy, _he thought.

Naruto laughed and ran towards the wall where they were. His strides took him on a dead run at the brick wall, then he leapt up and began to run up the side of the wall.

"They're freaks!" one villager shouted. "All of them!"

"Let's get out of here!"

Naruto laughed as the last of them left. It was sort of…nice…to have a fight where he didn't have to kill anyone.

"Well done Naruto." Naruto looked up to see Mabry, Senjii and Nagi looking down at them from the rooftop of the very building they were on.

Naruto scowled, "How long have you guys been up there?"

Senjii rubbed the back of his head and smiled with his eyes closed. "Well we got here just as that Ji-Hoon guy disappeared. I held Nagi back and explained we should give you some time to calm down."

Nagi laughed. "Good speech about the new life at Tengoku. I think you're getting better at selling it to us strays you pick up."

Mabry nodded, a huge grin on his face. Naruto was everything Tsunade had said he had become. Earnest, honest, caring and strong. Exactly what a leader should be. He had sided with the right guys for once.

"Kids, what Naruto offered you is real. He," he said pointing to Nagi, "is also a new kid picked up, we're all headed to that village Naruto spoke of." Mabry's eyes narrowed. "No child should live like this. I myself run a home for orphans. You would have heard of it probably if you've been on the streets for any length of time."

Gen 'looked' up at him. "You're Milford Mabry? The Magician?" Mabry nodded. Gen turned his head to Naruto.

"You're Naruto? The city destroyer? The Shinigami? The Protector?"

"Whoa," Senjii whistled. "That's a new one Naruto! The Protector! How do you like that one?" Naruto grinned like an idiot with a smile that threatened to split his face in two.

"I guess Jiraiya's spy network has been hard at work spreading rumors," Naruto said scratching the back of his head.

The three children (though they were only three years younger than Naruto, he couldn't help but think of them as children) nodded to each other.

Syran spoke up. "We've heard of you Mr. Mabry. We'd go with you. We've also heard of Naruto, some of it good things, so we'll trust you."

Mabry nodded. "Great. Now a quick note here guys." He looked at Naruto, Senjii and Nagi. "You should get ready for a battle, oh I'd say in the next minute at most."

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Yup, you see I didn't realize that the Nefari worked this far north, they're usually much lower south, closer to the Land of the Dead. Must be looking to add to their arsenal."

"What does that mean?" Senjii asked, clutching his blade.

"The Nefari are half demons. They come from the Land of the Dead which is a huge island far south of here. They corrupt people and claim their souls, make them their slaves, subordinates, warriors, etc. They can only claim a soul that's been completely corrupted. I imagine this one, Mr. Ji-Hoon, would have eventually asked these kids to kill someone. The act of murder splits the soul. He'd have been able to completely claim these kids after that."

"What does that have to do with a battle?" Nagi asked, feeling a cold wind start to blow.

"Well he's put a lot of effort into these three, I'm guessing the time it takes him to find reinforcements won't be long, so he'll be coming back to finish off Naruto."

The wind was now a gale, and dark clouds had gathered overhead.

"Wonderful," Naruto muttered.

Shadows started to come down the alleyway.

"Oh one more thing," Mabry shouted out, "Only Demon magic can kill a demon. Kinjutsu, forbidden arts and the like. You're not likely going to do much damage with, a sword," he looked at Senjii, "or Capoeira" he looked at Nagi. He reached into his magnificently brilliant coat and pulled out a small dagger that was intricately designed with carvings. He tossed it to Senjii. "Here use this." He reached again into his jacket and pulled out a pair of white gloves with runes written on them. He tossed them to Nagi. "Put these on."

As he did that, voices and screams echoed down the alleyway. "What about me?" Naruto shouted over the din.

Mabry smiled. "You're a walking talking Demon exterminator. Just do your thing Naruto!" Mabry struck a heroic pose and grabbed the three children in his grasp. "Meet you back at the wagon in fifteen minutes. Hurry up, cause we won't wait for you."

In a flash of stage magic, Mabry was gone with the kids, leaving Naruto, Senjii and Nagi to face the suddenly very visible horde of various monsters, demons and warriors.

"Crap," Senjii said and moved in with his dagger as Nagi hurriedly slipped on his gloves and Naruto took a ready stance.

The demon horde looked like something out of a nightmare. Gnashing teeth, fangs and rotted flesh. Naruto's eyes opened wide as the bodies spilled into the narrow alley. The oppressive feeling was back, and a loud cackle over the din belied the presence of Mr. Ji-Hoon.

Nagi and Senjii appeared on either side of Naruto. Senjii held the dagger in his hand with distaste.

"What the hell am I gonna do with this small thing? Pin-prick them to death?" Senjii asked disgustedly.

Nagi fingered the gloves. "Capoeira is mostly kicks, couldn't he give me some demon killing shoes?"

Naruto looked grim. "I'm not sure I can control my…" he glanced at Nagi, who didn't know his secret as yet, "...resident either."

Nagi glanced at him and laughed. "Senjii already filled me in. He seems quite proud of what you're doing there. So you don't think it will help?"

The first zombie lurched forward. Senjii stepped in front the trio and plunged the dagger into the brain of the carnivorous walking corpse. The creature shrieked and fell to the floor convulsing for a few seconds before it lay still. Senjii stepped back and looked with renewed disgust at the black tar like blood that stained his dagger.

A tall beast that was neither human nor bull yet both reached for Nagi. He melted into the shadows and popped back out in a spinning kick, the kick landed solidly, pushing the beast into Naruto who was now fighting off two zombies of his own.

Naruto and the beast went tumbling down, the beast pinning Naruto under him. Naruto grunted and pushed an air blast into the beast's stomach. It erupted in a fountain of flesh and tar like blood.

Naruto heaved and threw the monster to the side. The pair of zombies he had been battling lunged for his neck, but Senjii backhanded one while Nagi unleashed a punch on the other that caved in its skull.

The one Senjii hit came back but a quick dagger to the head and it too fell.

More monsters piled into the alley. Naruto assessed quickly.

"The narrow alley means they can't attack us more than two or three at a time. Senjii and Nagi, if you can hold them off long enough, I'll try to call on some of the Kyuubi's Chakra for a mass effect jutsu."

The Bull-monster began to get back up despite having its chest blown out, but Nagi punched it in the face, smashing its brain.

The next wave of attackers rushed them, three skeleton warriors with swords. Naruto dug deep inside, and felt that familiar feeling. The rage, anger, hate. He felt it like a pool, just waiting there. He tried to let just a little rise to the surface, just a tiny amount.

Red chakra erupted over his body like flames. Nagi and Senjii were both dispatching the undead creatures in front of them while Naruto raged at the chakra building up in him. His eyes were closed tightly as he sought to control it. He opened them and felt the difference, his irises were slit and the raw energy was flowing through him.

Nagi and Senjii were doing their best, but the creatures started to pile up and it made it difficult to move. The horde had begun to clamber over the fallen.

"I'm ready, move behind me." Naruto shouted over the roaring and screaming creatures.

Nagi and Senjii both moved in a flash behind Naruto who was already gathering as much chakra as he could. Naruto could physically feel the difference between his own and the Kyuubi's chakra. He had done it once before, he hoped he could do it again.

He focused on internalizing the chakra and mixing it with his. He felt the violent rejection at first, then the merging of the chakras. He exhaled and pushed forward with both palms sending a shock wave of mixed demon and human chakra slicing through the horde of monsters. The result was catastrophic.

When the dust settled, only one shadow moved. Ji-Hoon emerged from the ground, passing through the cobblestone as if he were nothing more than a ghost.

"Curse you Kyuubi! Magnon shall hear of your treachery! Turning against your own kind!" Ji-Hoon spit at Naruto. In a puff of black smoke and amidst a screeching noise, he disappeared.

Naruto, Senjii and Nagi stood panting. Black blood stained all of them, a mounting of bodies almost blocking them into their end of the alley.

"When we get back to Tengoku, I am getting a damn demon killing sword instead of this children's toy," Senjii said spitefully. Nagi just nodded breathlessly.

Naruto sighed, feeling very drained.

* * *

Twenty minutes since the fight began a very tired and battle weary trio of Tengoku warriors emerged from the crumbling alley to find that the wagon had already left. They would need to run to catch up to it. On the ground where the wagon had been was a note.

"_Too slow. Work on your speed. Catch up down the Northern road. We're going straight to Tengoku. Our new guests are Mirrun Tatsumi, Syran Basia and Gennosuke Odagiri. Pick up some meat for dinner tonight –The Magnificent Milford Mabry"_

The trio of friends sighed and headed on down the road after Mabry. After a brief stop at the market for some meat that is.

* * *

_Konoha_

"Again!" Lee told himself as he launched forward, this was his twentieth sprint through the length of Konoha. He had increased his weights to the point that at twenty laps, he could barely stand up. But that was the point, to push himself.

His feet moved in quick succession. To a normal person watching, it may have looked like a quick jog, but anyone of Jounin level would see how much Lee was struggling to move.

He passed by Ino's flower shop and saw for the twentieth time her sitting by her bedroom window above the shop in a trancelike state. He knew Ino had been practicing jumping from body to body using her mind switch technique. Usually at this stage of his run she'd try to keep pace with him. This time was no different.

The first person he saw on the sidewalk turned and smiled at him. "Let's go again Lee." He kept running as fast as he could, inspired by Ino's hard work. A few steps further down a green grocer turned around and smiled at him "Come on slowpoke, can't you keep up?" Lee grinned and pushed harder. And so it continued until Ino couldn't reach any further and had to go back to her body to rest.

Lee made it to the end of Konoha in a few minutes and stopped. He leaned against a stone wall and dry heaved. His body was being pushed to his limit. But he knew it would work, he would get stronger, faster.

He looked out into the training ground closest to where he was standing. He could make out Ten Ten and Neji doing similar exercises.

They were all doing them, all the Konoha Genin and Chunnin in on the plot. They were getting stronger in preparation for the day they overthrew Danzo.

_Elsewher_e

Kakashi looked around his house. He sighed at the collection of brightly colored books on his bookshelf. At least when the ANBU had searched his place they hadn't destroyed it. They'd left his books too. It helped he was a former commander of the ANBU and they for the most part didn't believe he was guilty either.

He hefted the small bag he had packed and strung it over his back. He took one last look around.

"I won't be back for a while house, don't fall apart on me. I promise I'll get someone to clean you once a week." He said to no one in particular. He stopped at the small shrine he had for his father, the White Fang of Konoha. He lit incense and nodded.

"_*sigh*_ Tengoku, huh? Nice name for a Village." He smiled under his mask and disappeared from his house, and the village.

* * *

**_Authors Note:_**

1. Much thanks again to **Joshua** my Beta reader! helped a lot with this chappie. You can thank him for me including the demon fight scene..lol. I had copped out of writing that one.

2. New Characters used! Props go out to:

i.** Lady Blade Warangel**: Creator of Mirrun. Excellent idea and backstory that can come out in later chapters. I dropped her age down for the story though.  
ii. **RPGMastar**: I changed your suggestion's name to Gennosuke and made him completely blind. I only kept the aspect of how he sees cause that can help the story later on.  
iii. **Twilightserius**: Syran was a simple suggestion but a good fit in with the new characters.

Thanks for all the suggestions!! I still may use some that I got so thanks and keep reading!


	11. Chapter 11 : The Hogs of War

**Chapter 11**

**The Hogs of War**

Senjii scowled and swatted at a fly that buzzed around his face. The persistent insect just avoided his blow and continued to pester him. With a whispered oath Senjii sliced the fly in half with the demon dagger Mabry had given him. He twirled the knife and slipped it back into his belt.

His eyes took in the meadow. Their prey hadn't shown up as yet, if it even existed. Mr. Mabry had regaled them last night of a story of the largest Boar he had ever seen inhabiting these woods. How no hunter could ever catch it, or spear it.

This of course had piqued the interest of Naruto, Senjii and Nagi. Although Senjii suspected the entire reason for the story had been to get them interested in the first place.

He looked across the meadow to the large oak tree on the far side. He couldn't see him, but he knew Naruto was by that tree. Across to the left, completing an almost equilateral triangle of the three of them was Nagi, somewhere in the shadows.

Mabry had pointed out this meadow and the hoof prints all over it - fresh ones, large ones; so the three of them decided to wait for it to show up again. Mabry had laughed and told them he'd wait by the Wagon for the day, but by morning he'd be continuing on to Tengoku.

Senjii smiled. He genuinely liked Milford Mabry. The man was fatherly. He took care of the three new orphans they picked up as if they were his own children. He had a huge supply of fresh children's clothing and he'd provided them with such.

After a little talking and laughter, the kids had opened up about how they came to be on the streets. Mirrun's father had been killed, while her mother and herself were sold into slavery. Her mother had bought her freedom somehow and given her the only possession she had, a gold coin on a shoestring. Mirrun cried as she told the story. Her powers had not manifested until she was on the streets for a year. A year until she realized she could see faster than people could move, and that she herself could move as fast as she could see.

Gennosuke was actually blinded by his parents when he was a baby. Apparently he used to have one blue and one brown eye. In his village that was a sign of evil and his parents were afraid he'd bring wrath down on the family. He found out their treachery one night when his dad came home drunk and that had been all he needed to run away from home. He'd long known he could send chakra pulses out to 'see' his surroundings. They allowed him to see things in a full 360 degrees of vision. He learnt to fight on the streets because a blind kid was always picked on.

Syren couldn't remember anything from before the streets. His first memories were of being in a box in an alley. He only survived out of sheer luck. An old homeless man had taken him in up until he himself died a few years ago. His water transformation was more instinct than a purposeful skill.

Senjii couldn't help but be impressed with the quality of people Naruto was drawing to his village. These kids alone had immense potential to be great warriors. Then there was Nagi.

Senjii had to admit, the addition of Nagi to the team kind of completed them. A three man cell was just more efficient. They now had three specialized skills on this team. Stealth with Nagi's shadow move technique; melee combat with Senjii's sword techniques, and aside from a healthy all around quality to him, Naruto was a mass effect person. '_The guy has now __single-handedly__ wiped two towns off the face of the map._' Senjii thought.

Yes, they now seemed perfectly balanced. And Nagi just fit in with the team dynamic. They just needed to get him a white suit and an armband now.

Senjii smiled and settled back in his spot, waiting for the Boar.

* * *

Nagi grimaced as the midday sun beat down upon him. He wiped the sweat from his brow, the dreadlocks he sported now tied back so as not to fall in his face. Once Milford Mabry had told them the story he, Senjii and Naruto had no choice but to hunt the boar. It was obvious. He grinned. It certainly was nice to meet kindred spirits. Nagi hadn't been this comfortable with anyone in a very long time. It felt like…friendship.

It had certainly been a while. From the moment Naruto hadn't even blinked at his dark skin, Nagi knew something was different about him. Everywhere he went in the unnamed country his skin was considered a curse. The superstitious and uneducated people would hunt him, shun him and curse him.

Naruto accepted him and offered him a home.

Nagi sighed, this heat really was unbearable.

* * *

Naruto scanned the brush carefully from his position perched high in the oak tree. He knew where Nagi and Senjii were, so he didn't need to look in those directions. He did anyway though, in case the boar snuck up on them, he didn't want his friends hurt.

He smiled. It was nice to have friends, a home to go back to. A sigh of contentment escaped his lips. He had gotten some memories from a few clones that had popped. They'd been gone two weeks already, and his clones couldn't be expected to last this long. They still had though, only now beginning to pop.

So Naruto knew where the construction had reached. He also knew about the orphanage arriving with Tsunade and Sakura. He was honestly excited to see Sakura again. Even though a small bit of shame couldn't help but creep its way into his thoughts. How would she react to seeing him? He'd been kicked out of their village for failing to bring back Sasuke. A promise he had made to her. A promise he had broken.

Mabry had been delighted to hear that his orphanage had been moved successfully and that the children were safe and being taken care of. He even approved of the starting up of the Warrior Academy.

"They won't be children forever. One thing I always teach my kids is to protect your own and protect the weak. Training them just gives them the power to back up those words." He had said. Naruto agreed.

A rustling in the shrubbery brought his attention back to the present. Out of the bushes strode the largest boar Naruto had ever seen. It stood easily six feet tall from hoof to shoulder. Its tusks were three feet long and curled in slightly. The edge looked razor sharp even from here. None of that was the most outstanding feature though.

Both Nagi and Senjii's eyes threatened to bulge out of their sockets.

The Boar had shimmering gold fur. Naruto, Senjii and Nagi all grinned. This would indeed be a prized catch!

The boar approached the center of the clearing and just stood there. Senjii felt a single drop of sweat drip down his forehead.

"Now!" Nagi shouted as he threw a handful of small exploding tag behind the Boar, not trying to hit him but to drive him forward. It worked well; the huge beast lurched forward in an impossibly fast run, straight towards Senjii.

Senjii leapt from the brush and swung with his sword. The idea was that if it went towards Senjii he would use his swords to slay the beast. If it went towards Naruto he would use a jutsu.

That was the plan anyway.

Senjii's sword slices cut through the empty space the Boar had been a second ago. The Boar had sped up incredibly fast and was now cutting to the left, towards Naruto.

"Naruto it's coming your way!" Senjii shouted. The animal left clouds of dust behind with each hoof strike.

Naruto dropped from the tree, intending to land directly on the Boars back with a _Rasengan_. He too missed as it dodged again, and ended spinning back into the middle of the clearing.

Naruto, Nagi, and Senjii now flanked the animal that just stood there and watched them.

"Just ease up on him, try to get it whichever way it goes." Senjii said.

As if on cue, the Boar lunged towards Nagi. He didn't have any weapons to use against the animal except more exploding tags, so he used one and melted into the shadows.

The tag landed in front of the rampaging animal. As he ran over it, the tag exploded. Naruto and Senjii saw the animal get thrown up into the air, but it didn't look damaged, it just looked mad as hell.

On the arc back down, the golden boar twisted in mid air and vanished into thin air.

Naruto and Senjii who were racing towards it stood in disbelief. "Where did it go?" Naruto asked.

From behind them they heard the crashing of hoofs and turned in time to see the angry animal rushing at them, tusks lowered. They barely managed to dodge out of the way of those razor sharp tusks.

The boar raced past. But instead of turning to come back, it disappeared into thin air again.

Naruto and Senjii, now joined by Nagi, looked around frantically. They stood back to back, looking all around for the next attack.

"How did this happen!?" Nagi asked incredulously. "Aren't we supposed to be hunting it?!"

Senjii scowled. "That Mabry…"

The Boar appeared in thin air to their right and charged again. They jumped up high, only to see the boar below disappear and then see the boar thundering across the ground again and jumping into the air after them like a missile.

In midair it's really hard to dodge attacks. Naruto pushed both Senjii and Nagi away from him and braced to take the full impact of the attack himself.

It never came. As it should have hit, the Boar disappeared. The trio landed and looked around the eerily quiet clearing.

"I think it's gone." Nagi said. He then promptly walked over to Naruto and slapped him behind his head. "What the hell kind of move was that!"

Senjii nodded, also cross. "What's the big idea pushing us out of the way like that?"

Naruto shrugged. "Was an impulse thing. I can heal, you guys can't. I can take the most damage and walk away."

Nagi shook his head in disgust and walked a little distance off. He wasn't expecting the response to actually make sense.

The three unsuccessful hunters walked back to the Wagons.

* * *

Mabry couldn't stop laughing. As they told the story his smile got bigger and bigger until he could hold it in no more. They sat around a table inside his wagon, lights from candles and lanterns illuminating the room.

"So what was that?" Nagi asked. "That wasn't an ordinary Boar."

Mabry laughed some more. "Well of course it isn't. Didn't anyone think to ask WHY no one has caught or slain it as yet?" He leaned back in the chair and interlocked his hands behind his head.

"That was a forest spirit. We're on the outskirts of a giant forest that's thousands of years old. The spirit appears to determine if travelers are welcome in this section of its forest. It cannot be killed. It does however kill those it deems unworthy."

He clapped the boys on their backs. "I guess you're worthy!" He said with a hearty laugh. "It's a majestic beast isn't it? I remember the first time I fought with it. We sparred for hours until the sun came down."

Mabry sighed. "Good old days."

Naruto frowned. "How many times have your battled with it?"

Mabry shrugged. "Who counts time spent with an old friend? Each time we meet I learn something new."

Senjii nodded. He understood that. Naruto thought back to the hunt and realized the Boar had used some very specific tactics. It charged the only unarmed and therefore weakest one of them. It herded them into a small group. It drove them into the air and attacked them there where it was harder to dodge. He realized the Spirit was in control the entire time. Naruto wondered if there was any way for him to incorporate those tactics into his style.

"Well." Mabry continued. "Now that we have permission to pass, it's a straight line to Tengoku by tomorrow."

* * *

_Tengoku_

*pop*

Another of Naruto's clones puffed out of existence, letting the wheelbarrow it was carrying crash down to the ground. Jiraiya frowned, that was the tenth one today. At this rate they'd all be gone by tomorrow and construction work would need to cease. They really counted on those clones for cheap labor.

Jiraiya shrugged and went back to his book, scribbling down ideas that came to him. He looked over to where Ma and Pa toad were meditating. They had said they needed to feel the Natural Energy here in Tengoku to determine just what level of risk Naruto would be exposed to. They had been sitting there for hours.

He could hear the sounds of children playing not far away. The Orphanage was right in the shadow of the White Tower. Put there specifically because they knew how Naruto felt about orphans.

Across the 'street' - which at this point was nothing more than markings – was the area set aside for the Warrior Academy. No work had begun on this at all, so for now it was just a training ground. Tora had put together a starting syllabus for the Warriors in training to follow and divided up all the interested children into levels. It was a lot of organizing, but he had the help of Hiroka and Sakura.

Guerrera was hard at work laying down designs into the stone walls and floor. They were special markings to increase strength and durability.

Just then, he heard a drip. Then another one. He peeked over the top of his book with a smile. _They've done it!_

Within seconds the drop became a torrent as running water was brought to the village. Jiraiya heard a cheer go up from the residents of Tengoku as the pipes all filled with water and flowed out. The clones nearest to him jumped up in joy.

Jiraiya smiled. The village was coming along.

"Young Jiraiya." Pa toad said, breaking him from his reverie. "We agree to start Naruto's training in Sage arts. The Natural Energy on this island is incredible. It rivals that of Mt. Myouboku."

Jiraiya nodded. "Naruto would be sad to leave this village again for so long, but it's important that he learns how to control it before he accidentally discovers Natural Energy."

Ma Toad shook her head. "No No. You misunderstand. We will train Naruto here. There is more than enough natural energy here to help speed him along. Also he has a wind affinity and this is the perfect place for him to learn, especially if he's already feeling its presence."

Jiraiya was shocked, but nodded in acceptance. He'd talk with Naruto when he got back.

* * *

Kenshiro had been a member of Jiraiya's spy network for close to ten years. It was not particularly rewarding work. Jiraiya didn't pay. It was all solely done for two reasons. One was a life debt to Jiraiya, the Sannin had saved him from a noose many years ago. The other was sheer boredom. If all he had in his life was his store and his nagging wife, Kenshiro thought he'd have killed himself by now.

The door opened to his store and a timid looking man with round glasses walked in nervously.

'_Ah, a customer.'_ Kenshiro thought. He approached the man and smiled broadly at him.

"How can I help you today?" He asked the customer. "Hammer? Nails? Paint?"

"Um…" The man stammered. "I...I…I have a…'toad'…problem. Can you help with that?" He looked at Kenshiro cautiously.

Ken sighed and his face instantly became more serious."Its OK, no one else is in the store. So you want to reach Jiraiya? Can I ask why?"

The man nodded. "Because we heard that his apprentice has started a new village. A place where people can start over, not live in fear. My Family…I want us to go there."

Kenshiro smiled at the man. "You're the second one this week." He slipped a piece of paper into the man's hand. "This is a map. Be at that location in one week's time. Walk with any belongings you like."

"Thank you!" The man stared incredulously at the map and turned to walk out.

"Don't thank me. I might join you if my wife drives me crazy enough." Kenshiro said with a jovial smile and got back behind the counter.

* * *

Kakashi jumped from branch to branch, feeling the presence behind him more than knowing it was there. He changed direction and jumped again, moving impossibly fast. He hoped to avoid a fight if he could. He didn't want to battle a Konoha nin if he could help it. The presence behind him followed his turn. _It has to be ANBU._

He had left Konoha not an hour before he realized he was being followed. He had immediately left the trail and took off into the trees.

But it looked like he would have to face it sooner rather than later. A second presence suddenly appeared to his left, moving to intercept. Kakashi swore to himself. The pursuer must have radioed for an intercept.

Kakashi turned in midair just in time to dodge a well thrown brace of Shuriken. The figure who had intercepted him was throwing projectiles at a very fast rate from behind cover. Kakashi flipped over and twisted, avoiding Shuriken and Kunai by the dozens. The style of fighting made it obvious to him who he was fighting, which meant the one pursuing him was obvious as well.

As he neared a clearing Kakashi veered off. The last thing a ninja really wanted to do was fight in the open if he could help it. With the two ANBU on his trail, Bekkou and Akame he was sure of it, even less so. In the open he'd be an easy target.

A slight whistle was all the warning he had to jump high in the air, to dodge a windmill shuriken slicing through the branch he had just been on. That was Bekkou again, a weapons expert.

As he arced back from his jump over the canopy of trees he felt a heat blast approaching him. A large fireball had erupted from the forest racing towards him. Kakashi executed a _Kawarami _and switched places with a log at the last second. He knew it wouldn't fool them but it should buy him some seconds.

From his hiding place in the bushes he did a quick series of hand signs and called on his summons. This was a tight spot. He could easily defeat these two ANBU, but he didn't want to hurt anyone. His summons in this case was two large ninja dogs. With a series of signals he communicated to them what he wanted done. In a flash, they ran off into the bushes.

Kakashi sighed then glanced up in time to see a scythe cutting down towards him. He rolled backwards, feeling the blade pass an inch away from his skin. He palmed the ground and spun, kicking the legs out from under Bekkou.

The ANBU instead of falling did a cartwheel and landed back on his feet. The Scythe never left his hands. He swung it again, across this time, to take off Kakashi's head. Kakashi ducked under and threw a smoke pellet to the ground. He pulled off another _Kawarami_ and appeared several yards to the right.

A stream of fire arced its way towards him, scorching trees and shrubbery in its path. He rolled out of the way again. Akame was a fire type, adept at creating fireballs much like the Uchiha clan, but maybe with less power. But he made up for it with accuracy.

Both ANBU were fairly new recruits which made Kakashi all the more cautious. They would be over zealous to prove themselves.

"Surrender Kakashi!" Bekkou said from a branch high up, fifty yards away. "You cannot escape us."

Kakashi sighed. They needed more experience.

One of his Nin-dogs rushed Bekkou and bit into his left leg, hard. Bekkou screamed in pain and both he and the dog fell off the branch. Kakashi released the summons before it hit the ground, not wanting any of his dogs hurt.

He heard a curse from far behind him. That would be Akame. He raced towards the sound, determined to incapacitate the man without hurting him seriously. Fireballs came rapidfire towards him as he dodged and ran full tilt towards where he now knew Akame to be.

He burst from a bush and jumped up to the branch Akame was on. The new ANBU panicked and body switched with a log. Kakashi landed on the branch he had been on and looked around.

A yelp told him that his other dog had found Akame and had also bitten him in the legs. Kakashi nodded to himself and released that summons as well. He then took off back west, heading as far from Konoha as he could get, glad he hadn't hurt anyone seriously.

* * *

_The City of Yomi, Land of the dead_

Amidst a city full of decrepit stone houses and street bonfires stood a tall black stone tower. Smoke and screaming wrapped its way around the tower, as the dead and dying in the streets cried out in agony. This was Yomi, the capital city of the Land of the Dead. Demons and ghouls and monsters of the most horrible nightmares roamed this land. 'Living' as you will for the day that they could escape this cursed island and destroy the world.

Fortunately for the world, they were for the most part kept in their own land by the need for utter darkness. The slightest bit of daylight would destroy them. Even the meager light of the moon would remove them from this plane of existence. There were very few times they could venture past their own borders, kept eternally dark by the Clouds of smoke and magic of the darkest kind.

Some Demons found ways to exist beyond the borders. In fact over the years several excursions into the world by former residents of Yomi had resulted in massive worldwide destruction; however humans had been stronger than they expected and bound or destroyed those soldiers.

It was the most powerful of those soldiers that was being discussed now.

"Kyuubi!" Magnon raged, slamming his gauntlet fist down onto the arms of his throne. The stone and bone chair shuddered at the impact.

"Yes my Lord." Ji-Hoon spat out. "He was bound in a human and helped the human defeat the sixth squadron horde. He showed us no mercy."

Magnon scowled in disgust at Ji-hoon. Magnon was an imposing figure, standing eleven feet tall, clad in dark red armor, smoke rising out of creases and cracks. His eyes a black pit that threatened to suck you in. A mane of white hair adorned his hardened features, battle scars on his face belying years of war. You didn't get to be Lord of Yumi through family ties; you earned it by defeating all challengers.

"The Kyuubi was the next challenger for my throne, you think that a century away from Yomi would lessen his skills? You were a fool to throw away a horde over a personal insult. Three human children you were corrupting were not worth your petty vengeance." Magnon growled at Ji-Hoon. The land of the dead did not suffer weakness or defeat lightly.

Magnon clenched his fists and Ji-Hoons left arm crunched into dust. He fell to the ground writhing in pain.

"I will not kill you yet you foul worm. I need to know where Kyuubi is. That is an open wound that needs to be cauterized immediately." He pointed his metal fingers at the sobbing lesser demon in front of him.

"You are adept at maneuvering amongst the humans. The filthy human blood we put in you keeps you half human enough to live outside our lands. You will find this vessel of Kyuubi and you will tell me where he is."

* * *

Naruto slept fitfully that night, awakening inside the familiar long dark sewer. Ahead he saw the bars and the paper seal that held his prisoner at bay.

The growling and snapping behind the bars let him know that the Kyuubi was upset.

"That Filthy Half-blood dare put his hands on me! On MY vessel!" The fox snarled and howled, raging against the wind.

Naruto let him rage for a few minutes before interjecting. "What were those things? And how did they know you?"

Kyuubi howled again and glared down at Naruto. "Those were lesser demons, filthy half bloods and ghouls. Natives of my real homeland, the Land of the Dead."

Naruto walked a little closer to the cage. "That Ji-Hoon thing, he knew your name."

Kyuubi laughed. "All Lessers know my name. I would have challenged for the seat of Yomi itself had I not gotten the opportunity to leave that wretched land."

Naruto didn't really understand but nodded. "So what does this mean?"

The fox looked at Naruto and lowered its massive red head down to his level. "Since you failed to kill him, that lesser will have reported to Magnon. That means you imbecile that the hordes of hell will now be looking for me. I was Magnon's greatest threat. He now knows I live, even if it is inside a vessel. They will hunt you down and they will kill you to get to me."

Naruto stared wide eyed at the demon in front of him. "What do I do?"

Kyuubi growled. "You get stronger on your own. I cannot give you anymore chakra than I already do. Can't give you any special powers or anything like that. If you break my seal I will be free of course, and I will decimate them. Remember that. When your loved ones are in danger, the only way you can save them is to set me free."

Naruto woke up sweating.


	12. Chapter 12 : The Calm

Chapter 12

The Calm

"Ahhhhhhh! Damn you Mabrryyyyyy—!" Nagi screamed as he careened up the wind tunnel to Tengoku. The Capoiera fighter had refused to jump in when the mechanics of how he was supposed to get to the city were made clear to him. When pressed for a reason, he refused to say. That is until that bastard Mabry had guessed he was afraid of heights, laughed, then picked him up and threw him into the ravine.

With a puff he burst through the cloud bank and landed unceremoniously on his face, his rear end high in the air behind him. He muttered some choice curse words he had picked up in his travels and pushed up onto his hands. _This place is amazi…_

His thoughts were interrupted as Senjii burst through the clouds as well, and headed right for him. With a yelp, Nagi rolled out of the way just as Senjii landed.

Naruto grinned down on the ground with Mabry and the three kids. He hopped back on top the wagon and shouted down to Mabry. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Mabry laughed and settled down, holding the reins and clipped them, sending his entire wagon into the ravine and letting the wind pick it up and shoot it into the air. Somehow, whether through some form of magic, chakra control or perhaps sheer force of will, Mabry managed to keep the wagon perfectly straight as it shot up into the cloud banks and his mules perfectly calm.

Seconds later the largest wagon the world has ever seen was landing with a 'whoomp' on the cloud banks of Tengoku. It giant wheels grabbing a foothold on the white surface and immediately rolling forward towards the dirt shore.

Naruto laughed and stood on top of the wagon, looking at the progress of the white tower, the orphanage and street markings. His clones had sent along the memories, but it really didn't have the same impact as seeing it for yourself. He shouted at the top of his lungs, sending a flock of rare birds flying out of the treetops.

"I'm home!"

Later that evening, Naruto sat at large table in the first floor of the white tower. Around the table sat Jiraiya, Tenchi, Tsunade, Old Man Tora, Guerrera, Sakura, Hiroka, Senjii and Nagi. Standing on one end of the table was Milford Mabry, grinning like a madman.

"Tsunade, I have to hand it to you, you weren't kidding." He looked out the opening where eventually a glass pane window would fit and stared out as hundreds of brand spanking new Naruto clones worked feverishly to make up for lost time. Some were also playing with the children at the Orphanage while the clones working nearest were scowling in jealousy. "This place is mind blowing."

Tsunade smiled and nodded. Spirits were high around the table. "Yes, it truly is a one of a kind location. Naruto you couldn't have found a better place."

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "So how's everything going here? I mean my clones gave me a good bit of information, but they were mostly just workers, so what else should we know about?"

Jiraiya nodded in satisfaction, Naruto was becoming more mature as the responsibility of building this village brick by brick was teaching him.

"Well Mabry here has arranged our food and medicine supply line," Jiraiya nodded to Mabry.

"That's right," Mabry replied. His voice taking on a much more serious tone. "Once a month a caravan with goods will be at the ravine waiting for pickup. Cash on delivery." He cocked his head to the side. "How are we paying for things now by the way?"

"We?" Tenchi asked him with a sly grin. "Have you decided to join our ranks?"

Mabry looked back at the orphanage and sighed. "I've always been afraid that one day when I'm traveling some warlord would find my children. You've offered them a safe place to live. For that you have my allegiance. I will fight for you."

Sakura cleared her throat. "I hope this isn't rude, but I've been meaning to ask. You're not a ninja, but when you told me about your fight with the Hokage, I got the impression it wasn't a one sided battle."

Naruto looked wide eyed. "You fought with the old man?" His expression was one of confusion.

Mabry laughed. "We had a disagreement over how one particular urchin in his village was being treated. We worked it out." Naruto seemed to take that explanation, but Jiraiya and Tsunade laughed.

"Worked it out?" Tsunade asked. "You battled each other for the better part of an afternoon. Shizune was in Konoha at the time and she told me all about it. You were both bloodied and tired and it was only after Sensei used his summon staff to knock you out did it end."

Naruto, Sakura, Nagi and Senjii stared wide eyed at Mabry, seeing him in a whole new light.

Mabry shrugged. "Like I said, we worked it out."

"What's your fighting style?" Naruto asked excitedly. "We already have ninja, samurai, a luchador, so what's your style? Can we use it to teach the students in the academy?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Mabry is a down and dirty street fighter Naruto. Toe to toe one of the toughest bastards you will ever meet. The man is a tank, just takes damage like there's no tomorrow but dishes it back out too."

Mabry sighed and sat down. "When you learn to fight on the streets you just learn what works and what doesn't. I don't have a 'style' Naruto. I just win because I have to."

Naruto nodded and looked pensive.

Jiraiya cleared his throat and changed the topic. "Well we should formally welcome the new additions to our Archangel fighting force. Sakura and Nagi." A smattering of clapping accompanied Jiraiya passing Tengoku armbands down the table to them.

"Now, I have a couple things to talk about," Jiraiya continued. "Firstly, I would like to broach the subject of leadership." The table went quiet, unsure of where this was going.

"I would like to formally ask if we will accept Naruto as the village leader," Jiraiya said in a deep voice. You could have heard a pin drop as the wind whistled in through the window frame. All eyes turned to the suddenly very still Naruto.

"I second that," Tenchi said. Naruto glanced at him too, his eyes getting wider and wider.

"Wai…wait..." Naruto managed to stammer out. He stood up. "The village isn't complete as yet. I'm still learning how to get stronger, how to deal with...so many things. I can't possibly be ready to lead this village." His voice was plaintive. This was a dream of his, but to have it thrust upon him, like this…

"Naruto," Tsunade said in a motherly voice, seeking to calm him. "No one is ever ready for the mantle of responsibility. What matters in a leader is the ability to inspire and lead."

Senjii grinned. "You have that in spades Naruto. You saved my life and gave me a purpose."

Nagi nodded in agreement. "You saved my life too. I'll follow you."

Jiraiya chimed in. "We all have faith in you Naruto. You will get stronger, you will get smarter. Those things come with time. But your heart is already in the right place. No one is saying you will have to do this alone. Tsunade and I are volunteering to be your advisors, and Tenchi will continue to teach you."

Naruto sighed in relief. "Well OK, once you guys are still around."

They all laughed at that one. "So are we in agreement?" Sakura's eyes became teary, realizing her teammate's dream was about to come true.

"Naruto is now officially the leader of the Heavenly Village; Tengoku," Jiriaya said with a sense of finality. He took out a gold version of the armband and passed it down to Naruto.

Naruto held it up, the light catching the gold and gleaming back at him. Tears streamed down his face. Tenchi cocked an eyebrow at Jiraiya.

"Well he'd just look stupid under a Kage's hat wouldn't he? Plus he's not a Kage, we're not a recognized village as yet," Jiraiya said by way of response.

After a few congratulations to Naruto, they continued with the business at hand.

"I have my spy network spreading word that families that are looking for somewhere safe to live can find such a place. We need citizens to inject life into this village. Now the spies are checking on all the families, and we'll be going to meet them in a week's time at a village twenty miles to the west of the mountains. Mabry and I can handle it."

"Wait," Naruto spoke up. His eyes going to the armband he hadn't put on as yet. "I want to come too. I want to know every member of this village personally."

The adults in the room all smiled. Naruto would grow into a fine leader.

"That's great Naruto, but maybe we should work on your clothing?" Tsunade suggested. Sakura nodded vigorously, an evil gleam in her eyes.

Naruto looked down at his white clothes which were brand new; so what was Oba-san talking about?

Mabry nodded. "It's a good battle uniform, but it's not very statesman like. As the village leader you have to be looked upon with respect, command a certain level of awe and admiration."

Senjii looked across at his friend. "Well Naruto, I'm sorry but I have to agree. All the big shots will look down on you dressed like a common warrior. They'll just see a kid. They won't see a leader."

Sakura chimed in. "Now that white suit that Senjii-san is wearing…that's the kind of thing you should wear."

Senjii smiled, "I'd gladly donate this suit. I have others like it I got as payment for a small job from a tailor. Maybe someone can tailor it to fit you Naruto."

The look of abject horror on Naruto's face was priceless as Sakura, Hiroka and Tsunade dragged him out of the room to get measured.

* * *

Senjii stood on the platform that would be the fifth floor of the white tower. The view was spectacular. The entire island could be seen from this height, above the canopy of the trees that grew here, above the clouds. It felt as if he was at the highest point in the world. He looked down at all the Naruto clones working as hard as ever to build this city. Some were stamping the main road flat as they could in preparation for the cobblestones Guerrera had prepared. Others were erecting poles that would connect the orphanage, then the white tower, to the Power station that wasn't operational as yet. Soon they'd have electricity to add to the already working plumbing.

He saw Hiroka and Sakura talking under a shady tree by the 'training grounds'. He hadn't spoken to her since she'd arrived in Tengoku. Senjii knew he should but just couldn't bring himself to do it.

"I can face down an army of demon warriors…but one girl…" He sighed and turned to head back downstairs and have a talk with Nagi.

* * *

_Twenty miles to the west of Tengoku_

Kakashi stared up at sight before him. A caravan of people had camped out in the valley Jiraiya had told him was the rendezvous point. At least twenty families with what looked like every worldly possession that they had.

Kakashi approached very carefully, it wouldn't do to frighten these people.

"Stop!" A girl with a crossbow ordered him. She couldn't have been more than sixteen, with her hair in pigtails and her white dress spotless despite what had to have been living in that caravan for a while.

Kakashi obliged and put his hands up, smiling as best he could under the mask.

The girl scowled at him. "What's your business here?!" she demanded.

"I'm here to meet a friend," Kakashi said as matter-of-fact as possibly. These people may be here by accident or design, but he wasn't about to give any information away that wasn't necessary.

"Do you mean the Toad Master?" she asked, the hostility fading from her voice.

Kakashi nodded and lowered his hands as he saw her breathe a sigh of relief and lower the crossbow.

"We're here to meet him as well," she said, motioning to the wagons arranged in a defensive circle. "But he's not due for a couple more days. You're welcome to wait with us."

Kakashi smiled at the girl, she was pretty when she wasn't pointing a weapon at him. "Sure if you don't mind. My name is Hatake Kakashi."

She smiled right back at him. "I'm Calamity. Yes it's a nickname, no don't ask, and no I won't tell you my real name." She turned on her heel and walked back inside the circle leaving Kakashi stunned and grinning.

* * *

_Palace of the Fire Daimyo._

The lone figure dropped soundlessly to the floor behind the guard and planted a kunai into the back of his skull. He died soundlessly and fell forward, but before he hit the floor the intruder was streaking like a crow straight down the corridor. For this part of the mission, he was not supposed to attract attention, so he did his best to be invisible. His all black clothes, his face hidden behind a dark metal mask, only his eyes showing, all designed to make him hard to see in the dark.

Three dead guards later, he stood at the door to the Daimyo's office where lords and ladies of the court would meet with him. Certainly some would be there, it wasn't that late in the day that the place would be emptied.

Which was perfect as this part of the plan required witnesses. Swiftly he dug into his pouch and pulled on a headband that declared him a ninja of Iwagakure. With a sharp intake of breath he crashed through the big oak doors and rolled into the room.

The intelligence had been right. At least ten courtesans were present, as well as five guards. He dodged the attacks coming from the guards and flung kunai at them in a spread pattern, it was meant to distract more than kill, although it did have the effect of taking out two of them.

No matter, he was within striking distance of his target now. The Daimyo stood stunned at what was happening before him. The intruder leapt high into the air and bellowed the rehearsed script. "For the glory of Iwa!"

He plunged his kunai hilt deep into the heart of the Fire Daimyo amidst the screams of the witnesses. Without stopping, he grabbed the body and jumped out the window. The glass shattered easily and they plummeted to the earth four stories below.

The intruder positioned the body under his and at the best possible moment jumped up and across using the body as a platform. His fall was by no means smooth but he was unharmed as he rolled again and headed into the darkness of the alleyways, his mission accomplished flawlessly.

* * *

_Tengoku_

"So what's the story with you and Naruto?" Hiroka asked Sakura. The two of them had hit it off right away. Besides being the only girls their age in the village, they genuinely liked each other. Sakura thought Hiroka was a no-nonsense warrior and respected that, and Hiroka thought Sakura was a dedicated Kunoichi and Medic. Plus they both loved playing with the kids.

"No story there," Sakura said smiling. "We're friends. That's all we'll ever be." Sakura knew that to be true. Despite his…decision…her heart would forever and always belong to Sasuke.

"What about you and Senjii? What's going on there? You guys always seem so awkward around each other, and he never speaks to you." Sakura asked.

Hiroka sighed. "He's my fiancée," she replied.

"What?!" Sakura exclaimed. "You guys are going to get married?"

Hiroka shook her head. "Not until…well…lets say not for a while."

Sakura practically growled at Hiroka. "Oh no. You're not clamming up on me now. Spill!"

Hiroka stood up and watched the sun begin to set.

"Two years ago, Senjii and I were engaged to be married. My father approved of Senjii, he was an up and coming student of my uncle who was recognized to be the best swordsman in the world. Senjii was handsome, dedicated, and loving." Hiroka sighed and sat back down.

"Senjii also loved his brother. The two of them were inseparable. I would have sworn that on our wedding night we'd have had a witness in the room." Sakura blushed at that but motioned for Hiroka to continue.

"On the morning of our wedding, the school where Senjii studied was destroyed. Every person in it massacred. Senjii wasn't there, in fact he didn't even hear about it until he arrived at the wedding. I begged him not to go but he ran to the school. His brother was killed. My Uncle, his sensei, was killed. Children who studied there, all slaughtered."

Sakura's eyes brimmed with tears.

"Senjii fell to his knees and cried for his loss. I know my fiancée, his heart broke that day. He told me that very evening that he could not marry me until his brother and sensei had been avenged. I told him do not think he could walk away from me, I'd not let him out of my life. He set out to find the killers anyway."

Hiroka looked up at the top of the white tower and was sure she saw Senjii's silhouette looking down on them.

"He's been lost ever since, looking in the wilderness and the badlands for any clues. He stops by my dad's place every so often. I will not marry anyone else because I know Senjii is the one for me. I have to say though, that this is the first time I've seen him genuinely happy. I think he's found a new brother in Naruto."

Sakura smiled. "Well Naruto does have that affect on people." She looked around at the village being built around them. "He's truly a most unpredictable ninja."

* * *

Naruto looked at the two frogs in front of him excitedly.

"Sage Arts?" His voice hid no emotion, his excitement bared open for all to see.

"Yes Naruto. Young Jiraiya has told us you are beginning to feel the natural energy around you. Tell me, is this true?" Pa Toad asked.

Naruto looked pensive for a second and nodded. "I feel something. This presence all around. I thought it was the wind. I have a wind affinity, so I thought because of how much wind there is up here, how this island is kept up by the wind, that I was just feeling an…abundance."

Pa nodded "Mmhmm. Yes what you're feeling is the natural energy of this place. It is not only wind that keeps this island afloat, but unfathomable amounts of chakra flow. Natural energy flows through here like a stream, but because this is what we'll call the center of the worlds wind and wind chakra, it pools a bit allowing the wind to lift the island. It is nature at its most powerful."

Ma looked Naruto up and down. "You're very young to learn this Naruto. Sage Arts are not to be taken lightly. We need to teach you how to recognize it and learn to control it before Natural Energy consumes you."

Naruto looked scared. "That sounds bad. What happens if Natural Energy consumes me?"

Pa laughed. "You turn into a toad statue Naruto. The energy is too much for your natural body to handle and you become petrified."

Naruto scowled. "Why a TOAD statue?"

Ma smiled. "Because you have the toad contract, any natural energy that courses through you interacts with the contract. So you take on the form of a toad. If you had a dog contract you'd become a petrified dog and so on."

Naruto grinned and stood up. The training ground they were on was clear of clones, children and all the current residents of Tengoku. The Toad elders had asked for some privacy to have this discussion with Naruto.

"Well let's start! I have one week before I go to greet some more possible villagers." He pumped his fist in the air, excited to begin.

"Well we probably can't teach you much more than to recognize the energy, so hopefully you won't petrify before you come back," Pa said. He pulled out a large stick and smiled at Naruto. "Let's begin."

* * *

_Konoha._

The Hokage looked down at the city of Konoha. It had begun to take on a darker more serious feel to it. The carefree and happy lives of the citizens in it seemed to be clouded over by fear and a seriousness that hadn't been there before.

"Good," he muttered to himself. "We're a damned military village, about time these fools recognized that fact."

He felt the presence in the room behind him and turned. It was one of his root members, one that had just carried out a particularly sensitive assignment.

"It is done Hokage," the man said from behind his mask.

Danzo nodded and turned back to look down at Konoha just as lightning flashed and thunder rolled across the village. "Now we await word, but we will be going to war soon. Prepare the ROOT."

* * *

_One week later_

Naruto stretched, not feeling one hundred percent comfortable in the suit he was now wearing. Hiroka was an artist with her needle and thread. It didn't take much to get Senjii's suit to look perfect on him. Naruto sighed, he did look a lot more respectable he supposed wearing it. His hair was still long though, as no one in the village knew how to cut hair properly. He looked in the mirror and let a small smile escape him. He was starting to look like the face on the Hokage Monument in Konoha.

He slipped on the gold arm band and almost didn't recognize his own reflection. He looked…serious.

Naruto grinned and walked out to meet his friends. Senjii had found a different style suit for himself and Nagi, one that didn't have a collar. Both of them wore the white suites with an elegance that Naruto never thought he'd be able to match.

Sakura was talking to Hiroka at the main table when the three of them walked in. She was literally stunned. Naruto looked...simply amazing…in his new clothes. The other two boys (although she was younger than them, they were Naruto's friends so she thought of them as boys) also made her heart beat a little bit faster.

Hiroka grinned devilishly. "Hope you're not staring at my man Sakura."

Sakura smiled back. "They make a great trio don't they?"

Hiroka laughed. "Well at least this island has some good eye candy."

Mabry and Jiraiya walked in and looked over the three boys. They smiled.

"Now you look like a village leader Naruto. And you boys cleaned up nicely," Jiraiya said.

Nagi looked very proud, dusting his sleeves a bit and adjusting the jacket. "We're just born to dress in style."

Mabry's booming laugh was heard all through Tengoku. "Come children, let's get on my wagon and see how it fares on the ride down."

* * *

Sakura and Hiroka watched them ride off on the wagon and turned to look at each other.

"Does it seem to you that those boys are always going off on their own adventures and leaving us behind?" Hiroka asked.

Sakura nodded forcefully. She turned around and saw who she was looking for. "Hey Guerrera!" She shouted across the dirt street. "You mind if we take off for a couple days?" They had been helping out a lot with the orphanage. He smiled and nodded.

Sakura glanced towards the white tower and saw Tsunade nod at her with a smile too. With a grin, she and Hiroka launched themselves after the Wagon.

"Wait for us!"


	13. Chapter 13 : Spirit Wolf

**Chapter 13**

**Spirit Wolf**

Naruto, Nagi and Senjii lay on top of the wagon, shirts open, soaking in the sun. The gentle rocking of the wagon moving through the plains increased their laziness. Mabry steered the wagon cheerily while talking to Jiraiya. Inside, the voices of Sakura and Hiroka could be heard. The two of them had caught up to them before they'd even jumped into the wind stream.

Senjii was deep in thought. He'd managed to avoid talking to Hiroka since she had joined them in Tengoku, but now they were on a 'mission' so to speak. It would be awkward to avoid her any further. He could hear snippets of the girl's conversation. Mabry had a large wardrobe of clothing for various ages in his wagon. He explained that most of the orphans he picked up were wearing nothing but rags, so he always had clothes to put on them. Good clothes. Neither Sakura nor Hiroka had changed into what was turning out to be the Archangel uniform of white clothes with the silver armband, so they had excitedly begun digging in Mabry's closet.

He could make out small bits, such as Sakura squealing when she found a shirt she loved.

Hiroka "….with the scarf…"

Sakura "...yes…matches….eyes."

Hiroka "ha…he'll die…"

Senjii smiled for the briefest of seconds but then frowned. He did miss Hiroka, still loved her even. But she deserved someone who could give her the finer things, and he had a quest to fulfill.

"Hey boys!" Mabry's voice boomed up at them over the wagon canvas. "It's just over that hill."

Senjii sighed and sat up buttoning up his shirt, seeing his friends do the same. It was time to meet the potential new citizens of Tengoku.

* * *

Kakashi watched in amazement as the brightest colored and largest wagon he had ever seen in his life crested the hill to the south of their camp. The thing was massive, easily as big as a house, and the huge donkeys pulling it were no less impressive.

Within minutes the gigantic wheels brought the wagon to the center of the valley. Over the past few days more families had arrived, some lone people as well. Seems Jiraiya's spy network had done a good job of spreading the word.

Steering the wagon was one of the tallest men Kakashi had ever seen, and he recognized him as a magician that Konoha had hosted many years ago. It was said that he got into a friendly spar with the Hokage. Now _that_ had been a sight to behold.

Next to him was Jiraiya, looking as smug and carefree as ever. Kakashi could sense the crowds grow behind him as the people started to gather. Out of a flap on the side of the wagon, some stairs extended, and Naruto Uzumaki stepped out.

Kakashi had wondered what it would be like seeing his student again after a year. It had startled him to realize almost exactly a year had passed since he'd been expelled from Konoha. He had heard of the changes that Naruto had undergone, but seeing it was something different.

His hair had grown longer and wilder; he had gained some height and some more muscles. The clothes he was wearing were startlingly white, with a gold armband that bore the symbol of Tengoku. Kakashi was stunned. Naruto looked so much like his father now, but more than that, he looked like a leader.

Behind him two more boys, who had to be a couple years older than Naruto, stepped out. Both wore identical white suits, with the silver armbands of Tengoku. They took up flanking positions behind Naruto, the one with the swords to the right of Naruto and the dark skinned one to his left. Kakashi noticed the ease with which they slipped into that position naturally. They looked like a team that had been together for years. He felt a pang of pride in his ex-student.

Naruto saw Kakashi and all the seriousness melted off his face. "Kakashi-sensei!" he shouted and ran and hugged the ex-Konoha Jounin. Kakashi took a step back with an "oomph" escaping him. Naruto squeezed him tightly and Kakashi felt happy. His student clearly had no ill will towards him for what happened in Konoha.

"Hi Naruto." Kakashi managed to get out. "You seem well."

Naruto let him go and smiled at him, stepping back. The two boys behind him smiling as well. "I am Sensei, thanks! Have you been here long?"

Kakashi nodded. "A few days. Quite a thing you're doing Naruto."

Naruto shrugged happily, not responding. His eyes took in the curious faces of the people gathered. Many of them looked hopeful, some looked lost. Jiraiya walked up and touched Naruto's shoulder. He looked over at the crowd.

"We will be meeting with each person or family personally to talk to you. Please go back to your tents or wagons. Kakashi would have made a list?" He looked over at the Jounin who nodded. "Good, so we have your names and our village leader Naruto wants to greet each of your personally."

The people looked a little reluctant to go back to their wagons, but did so anyway.

Jiraiya turned to Kakashi, "Quite a crowd," he said matter-of-factly. The two of them had been communicating quite frequently via toad summons. But a few days had passed and this was more people than he had last heard.

"At least a hundred," Kakashi said. "More than you estimated, and most of them came in the last two days. I expect more will show up while we're here."

Mabry walked over. "I figure we'll be here for a week to decide who comes and who doesn't. Naruto will make the final decisions with our advice. It's his village, so his final decision."

Kakashi nodded, he'd been made aware of the decision to grant Naruto the Leader position. He approved wholeheartedly.

"What criteria will you be using?" he asked Naruto.

Naruto looked serious. "Only people with good hearts."

The boys turned as Sakura and Hiroka exited the wagon. Nagi let out a low whistle. Both girls had changed into white clothing with the silver armbands, but the style of clothing was what captivated the boys' attention.

Sakura had a short sleeved white shirt with a Chinese collar similar to the one Nagi and Senjii had, but her neckline was much lower, teasing some cleavage. A firm pink coat was affixed over it that matched her hair. A short white skirt with pink trim and knee high white and pink boots finished off her outfit. She had also found some white gloves that she was still putting on.

Hiroka was wearing a white Chinese style short dress with high collars and red tights underneath. Her red scarf was draped around her neck and flowing in the wind as if it had a life of it own. Two pins held her hair up in a bun, while she too adjusted gloves -hers elbow length- on her hands.

Naruto smiled, "You look great Sakura! You too Hiroka!"

Senjii nodded as well and looked away. Hiroka made a face at him and grinned at Sakura with a wink. All of them walked into the caravan behind Naruto, to decide who to accept into Tengoku.

* * *

Naruto's face was crestfallen as he heard the plight of the very first family he interviewed. The father had lost his business thanks to a raid on the town they lived in. They had been terrorized, his oldest son killed, leaving just him, his wife and his daughter who was ten. They hadn't escaped unscathed though. The particular warlord didn't believe in leaving survivors intact, so they had been scarred in various ways. The daughter had been cut across her cheeks, the mother across her hands, the father had lost an arm.

Naruto was incensed and vowed privately to find the person or persons responsible.

"My trade was as a tailor. But not many people will come to a one armed tailor; it takes longer to finish my work now." Tears were in the man's eyes. "But if you give me a chance in your new village, I swear I'll work faster than you can believe. Please I need somewhere to raise my family, to earn a living. Please…"

Naruto's eyes filled with tears as did his friends. He walked forward and put his hands on the man's shoulders.

"You will be more than welcome to join our village. Your family will be safe and you can live your life in peace." Naruto said.

Jiraiya frowned a bit at that, but said nothing till they were outside the tent.

"Naruto, it's all well and good to offer these people hope, but you do realize that we're still a hidden ninja village? It's almost guaranteed that at some point there won't be peace. At some point there will be battles and people could get hurt."

"I know sensei, but he doesn't need to hear that right now. And I will do all I can to protect every single man, woman, and child of my village," Naruto replied without missing a step, walking towards the next tent.

Kakashi looked on with pride as Naruto went from tent to tent, talking to the families that had been gathered and accepting them into Tengoku. For the most part Jiraiya's spies had spread the word only to families that would fit the desired mould, but Kakashi had been here for a few days and had his doubts about a few. It was now late evening and Naruto was now entering one such tent.

The patriarch of a family of four grown sons, the swarthy man had riches draped over him and he reeked of cheap perfume. His face was made up in what was clearly women's makeup and he laughed in a way that made it known he thought little of you.

Naruto looked at him and took an instant dislike. But he pushed that aside, determined to not judge someone based on first impressions and give everyone a fair hearing.

The man sized up Naruto and laughed. "Who are you supposed to be? Which of you men are in charge of this new village?" he said dismissing Naruto and glancing from Mabry to Jiraiya.

Mabry looked at the man with disgust. He'd met this type before, and he loathed men like this.

Naruto cleared his throat. "I am the Leader of Tengoku, Mr…?" he ended the statement with a polite question, to allow the man time to respond.

The man laughed and sneered at Naruto. "How interesting. I did not expect someone so young." He scoffed and then waved his hand at his four sons. "These are my boys. We would like to set up a branch in your city. We run our specialty shops in almost every major city in the western lands. It honors your village for me to even consider building there. I expect lenient property taxes because I will provide employment and inject 'funds' shall we say, into your hands." He smirked at Naruto.

Naruto looked perplexed. "What sort of specialty shop do you run?"

The man laughed. "We offer a wide variety of herbal remedies for many ailments as well as massages for very specific clientele."

Jiraiya looked at him scornfully. "You run an opium den and a brothel." While he didn't mind a few beautiful women around, this was not the way to start the kind of village that Naruto wanted. He did want to see how Naruto handled the situation though.

Naruto looked startled. He looked from the man to his four grinning sons for any sign that Jiraiya's words were not true. But they just laughed it off. He looked at the patriarch and cleared his throat.

"We don't want your shop in our village, but thank you for your interest." Naruto did in his best imitation of what he thought old man Hokage would have said. In truth he wanted to jump up and point at them and tell them to get the hell out of there now, but that wouldn't give the right impression of his….and that word was still scary to him…his village.

The swarthy man looked amused. "I see. Many village leaders are not wise enough to accept our initial offer. But I guarantee that they always take the follow up offer."

Naruto spun on heel and walked out the tent without letting the man finish.

Mabry grinned. "I don't think we're very interested in your next offer. Feel free to take your time and pack up your things, but do leave soon."

Naruto's friends and mentors filed out behind him. He breathed deeply as he waited for them to catch up.

He turned to Jiraiya. "Something about him just smelled, off."

Jiraiya nodded. "Not a nice man or a nice family. Extremely wealthy of course."

Kakashi chimed in. "There are five or six such wealthy, yet questionable, families in this encampment. Jiraiya's spy network is not infallible. Such men will always find a way to wiggle their way in where they see opportunity."

Senjii looked angry. "We're trying to build an honest village here; I don't understand why they think we'd welcome an Opium Den and a Brothel?"

Nagi shrugged. "The Opium Den I agree with you, but a Brothel is just another business. Many villages I've encountered that are perfectly peaceful have such a place. Once the women aren't forced to work there."

Jiraiya agreed. "Very common. But that man in particular would be a dark mark in our village. He could have been running an Ice Cream shop, and I still wouldn't have liked him coming along."

Naruto shivered. "OK. Next tent?"

Nagi looked around. "Hey where did we lose the girls?"

Kakashi smiled. "They stopped about two wagons back. Playing with the babies." (Twin babies that were probably the cutest either girl had ever seen in fact.)

Naruto smiled and headed for the next tent.

* * *

Two men watched from the shadows outside the opium dealer's tent. They turned to each other then melted back into the shadows and snuck out of the encampment.

They crept and snuck their way over the crest of the hill into the nearby forest. The sound of an owl hooting as they entered the woods made them stop in their tracks.

"It's us," the man whispered urgently into the night. An arrow whizzed close to his head. He growled up into the trees. "What the hell!"

"That was a warning, 'It's us' is not the damn password." A voice floated down from the trees.

The two men grumbled and stalked deeper into the woods. After a few minutes they came upon a camp. Around a campfire sat roughly thirty seven men. They laughed as one told a tale of treasure and plundering, for this was a camp of thieves.

At what was clearly the seat of power in the camp sat a tall brown skinned man. His hair tied back in ponytail, a short beard and mustache on his young face. Small gold hooped earrings and a gold ring with a symbol of a wolf were the only two pieces of jewelry he wore. His eyes though seemed to watch everything and nothing at the same time.

The two men approached him and the other men grew quiet.

"My Lord, it was as our snitch said. There are five or six very wealthy wagons in the encampment. There are no guards. But there are a few ninja in the camp. They seem to be picking people to take somewhere." One of the men reported.

The leader sat back. "Ninja? What are they doing this far west?"

"I do not know my lord," the same man responded.

One thief stood up. "It matters not! Many riches lay in those wagons! We will raid the camp and take what we want and be gone by dawn!"

The other thieves looked like they were about to cheer, and would have probably, if a dagger hadn't flipped through the air and sliced the loud thief's left ear off.

His hand clutched the bleeding side of his head and he fell to his knees. The leader stood up and walked over to retrieve his knife. "Did I miss the meeting where you were chosen for my position Krishna?" As he spoke his eyes took on a dangerous steely color.

"No, no my Lord Ali," the thief gritted out through his teeth. His anger barely kept in control.

Ali looked around at his men. "No one should think for one second that they can presume to decide when we attack, nor whom."

He sat back down. "The fact that there are ninja in the camp complicates things. It means we could lose men. There are only a few of us here who could fight toe to toe with a ninja. We need a much more solid plan than 'we attack at dawn'."

The men smiled wickedly. The leader of this band of thieves was always chosen not just for his skills, but for his cunning.

"The Spirit Wolf clan will show those fat merchants that the common man needs to live as well! Here is how we will do it..."

* * *

Naruto took a lot of convincing to stop interviews for the night and continue in the morning. He settled into Mabry's wagon and closed his eyes, hands behind his head thinking.

It had taken a lot to hear all the stories his new citizens told him. They were tales of suffering, abuse and woe. Many were running, some looking to start over. This part of the world was much larger than the civilized part he came from, and many things he took for granted simply weren't true here.

Naruto hoped he could do right by these people. He now had citizens for his village. People who weren't warriors or warriors in training.

Nagi and Senjii had stayed up talking, and Sakura and Hiroka were still in the camp somewhere. Naruto closed his eyes and hoped that tomorrow he would make good decisions.

Just before dawn when most people's guard is down, forty thieves entered the camp. They split up into six teams. Five went after the target wagons, and one went into various normal wagons, taking hostages and tying them up. Ali's plan was simple, if there was trouble, they'd use the hostages as collateral to escape. His two scouts had told him the Ninja were all around the massive colored wagon, so once they were quiet and avoided that wagon they should be OK.

What Ali did not know was that Sakura and Hiroka had fallen asleep by the kindly single mother with the cute twin babies. So when the thieves snuck into the tent to tie up some more hostages, they didn't meet an unsuspecting civilian, but two very angry kunoichi.

Sakura felt the malevolent presence in the tent and was standing in a flash, a mere second after Hiroka did. They saw four shadows, all of whom seemed to be startled to find them there. A glint of steel in one of the intruder's hands warned Sakura that they were armed with knives. She glanced at Hiroka who had snaked her scarf out and was in a ready to attack position.

As Hiroka lashed out with the scarf, Sakura turned and picked up the sleeping twins in either hand and dove out the back of the tent. The mother woke up to the sight of Hiroka fending off the intruders and her babies nowhere to be seen.

She screamed loudly. Loud enough to wake up the entire camp.

Ali cursed in his native tongue. He was sneaking up on a fat swarthy merchant when the scream awoke his target. The man lunged for a sword but to no avail. Ali buried his dagger in the base of the man's neck and turned to his two followers at the door.

"Take what you can from this tent and meet us back base camp. I will have to go and deal with the ninja," he said as he strode out the door.

* * *

"What's going on?" Naruto asked as he rushed out of the wagon with his Bo staff. Nagi and Senjii landed on the ground next to him.

Kakashi appeared as well. "It seems we have intruders in the camp. Thieves."

Naruto's eyes grew dark. "Thieves? Someone is stealing from these people?" All he could think of was the stories of persecution and the unjust way of life these people he had accepted as citizens had been subjected to.

"They're all over the camp." Jiraiya said as he threw two men to the ground in front of Naruto. "They wear the symbol of the Spirit Wolf Clan. A feared clan of thieves from far south."

Naruto nodded and made the sign for Kage Bunshin. He made fifty clones and sent them into the wagons and tents, searching for the thieves. Within seconds the sounds of fighting could be heard.

Naruto's face looked startled. "I lost a few clones. There's a tall man walking towards us. He's defending the other thieves from my clones. They're all running away."

Mabry appeared as well with a single thief over his shoulder. "They certainly use a fighting style I've never seen before."

No sooner did he say that than two of Naruto's clones flew backwards into the clearing where they stood in front of Mabry's wagon and 'poofed' out of existence. The tall man Naruto had spoken about entered the clearing. His eyes darted to the thieves on the ground.

"I've come for my men. Release them and we can forget this happened." Ali said calmly.

Nagi and Senjii looked at each other and lunged at the man. Senjii drew his sword and swung, Nagi sweeping for the man's legs. Ali however ducked under Senjii's swing and twisted in mid air over Nagi's swipe.

His hand reached for his belt and pulled on a hilt. A long sword uncoiled from around his waist and lashed out at Senjii who just managed to block it with the broad side of his sword.

Jiraiya cursed under his breath. "An _Urumi_."

Kakashi nodded. "That means…"

Ali landed on his feet and twirled the sword around him a few times. "My name is Ali of the Spirit Wolf Clan and I am a master of _Kalarippayattu_. Please do not force me to fight further. I will just take my men and leave."

Naruto growled and jumped into the fray. He used the Bo as a spear, poking towards Ali, who turned and pivoted, slashing the Bo aside with his flexible sword. Senjii came from the side with both of his swords, twirling them impossibly fast and slicing towards Ali. His slashes too were deflected by the skilled thief.

Ali then started to press his attack; the sword snaking around Naruto's Bo and slicing into his shoulder. He grimaced as he felt the cut as a burn, but his healing ability was already working close the cut.

Senjii had so far managed to avoid being injured, but barely. He was sweating, never had he been so hard pressed by a fellow swordsman. Despite himself and the circumstances, Senjii couldn't help but smile. This is what a true swordsman was like. Senjii was finally being pushed past his limits.

Ali flicked his wrist and the Urumi snaked around him like a tornado. He flicked it again and extended his arm and suddenly the razor sharp tornado was racing towards Senjii. He saw it in time though and flash stepped backwards towards the wagon and away from the fight.

"Damn," he said, panting. "He's so fast."

Kakashi agreed, he'd never seen someone fight so fluidly as that before. "Naruto is only surviving at this point because of his healing ability. Oh, and also because Ali doesn't seem to want to kill anyone."

Senjii looked incredulous at Kakashi but then he looked closer at the fight. Kakashi was right. The master thief was twirling the coiled sword effortlessly and with much more skill than Naruto was using the Bo staff. But he was clearly holding back on many openings to seriously injure the blonde ninja.

Naruto seemed to notice this as well. "Why are you holding back?" he asked as he swung the Bo staff at the thief's head.

Ali ducked and turned on the balls of his feet. He stood and lashed out in a kick that they all swore ended with his knee in his own face, his legs straight as an arrow. The kick did land however and sent Naruto flying backwards. He managed to flip in midair and landed on his feet though.

"I have no desire to kill children." Ali said. Jiraiya grunted, he had suspected as much. The Spirit Wolf clan was mostly feared by rich criminals and merchants who cheated their customers. There were more than a few tales of the clan helping the less fortunate. A band of cutthroats they most certainly weren't. So why were they here robbing these unfortunates?

"Why are you here Ali?" Jiraiya asked. "Most of these people have no money."

Ali nodded and swished his sword in front of him. "There were five or six wealthy men we've been following. They were scattered throughout your little operation here. We were supposed to be in and out, but it seems some of my men ran into your female ninja."

Jiraiya nodded, it made sense. "I'd let you leave with your men, but it's really up to Naruto here."

Naruto looked over at Ali. The man had to be in his early thirties, and he was so skilled with a sword.

"Why live a life like this?" Naruto asked him, dropping his attack posture. "Why live as a thief?"

Ali smirked at the young man before him. He recognized that look. "I don't need your pity boy. This life has been my family's life for generations. It is a proud tradition that I am honored to carry on. The Spirit Wolf Clan is a proud clan, a proud family."

Nagi and Senjii nodded. They understood what Ali meant. Tradition and Honor.

Naruto shook his head. "Come with us."

"WHAT!?" Jiraiya, Kakashi, Senjii and Nagi all said simultaneously.

Naruto smiled warmly at Ali. "The old man used to say you never really know someone until you fight them. You've got a good heart Ali. You should come with us."

Ali looked baffled. He took a step backwards as if expecting some sort of trick. But the smile on Naruto's face was genuine and open. He was shocked.

"What are you talking about? Go where?" Ali asked.

Naruto launched into an explanation of his village, without giving away its location –after a hard stare from Jiraiya– and again extended his invitation.

Ali laughed. "What's your name?" he asked Naruto, not unkindly.

"My name is Naruto. These are my friends Senjii and Nagi. And this is my Sensei, Jiraiya and our friend Mabry."

Ali's eyes took them all in. "I've heard of…most…of you. As I said, I have no wish to fight you, I will just take my men and leave. "

He turned towards Naruto. "Naruto, I wish you all the best for your village. My clan however does not stay in one place. Often the criminals we steal from look for revenge and it would not do for us to bring such troubles to your village."

Naruto grinned even wider. "You've just proven my point even more! You worry more for the ordinary people than you do yourself! You belong in our village!" he declared.

Ali grinned, Naruto's smile was infectious. "I do not think so Naruto, but thank you."

The three thieves on the ground began to get up. Kakashi help one to his feet. They eyed the ninja around them suspiciously as their leader motioned for them to come over.

A woman's scream shattered the clearing as five thieves ran into it. One had a woman in front of him, a blade pressed against her neck. Chasing them were Sakura and Hiroka, and one other girl that didn't surprise Kakashi in the least.

"Krishna!" Ali barked out. The man holding the woman turned and snarled at Ali.

"Release that woman now!" Ali commanded.

Krishna sneered and looked to the woman. Naruto saw it happen in slow motion, as if he had the Sharingan itself. But then the horrible moments in life always do seem to go more slowly. Krishna sliced the woman's throat open and flung her body to the side.

"I'm tired of you telling me what to do!" he yelled at Ali. "Just because your father was Leader doesn't mean you should have been! I will take what is mine!" He lunged at Ali with what looked like a dagger, but its hilt was shaped so that it needed to be held like a fist punching.

Ali sidestepped and pulled out a similar looking dagger. The two of them began battling each other in the middle of the clearing. Naruto appeared at the dead woman's side and picked up her body. He Hiraishin'ed back to the wagon and rested her down. Angry and sad at his inability to prevent her death.

The other four thieves came under the full wrath of the women who were chasing them.

Hiroka stood low to the ground, one leg extended forward, the other pulled underneath herself. Her scarf held between her hands. She sprung forward and lashed out with the scarf, the material smacking the first dagger wielding thief in the face. He snarled at her and slashed wildly with the dagger to no avail.

Sakura ducked under a dagger thrust and punched the first man in the solar plexus. Remembering what Tsunade taught her, the secret of the _Futae no Kiwami_, she used that double punch on the man. The result was the thief being flung out of the clearing, out of the camp, and halfway to the forest.

The third girl fighting was not someone that Naruto knew, but she was doing pretty well. She was using a bow to send arrow after arrow at the two remaining thieves, they had so far gotten two arrows in their legs, but kept running anyway.

Kakashi said out loud to no one in particular. "That's Calamity."

Calamity threw down her larger bow and pulled out two short crossbows from her belt. A torrent of small bolts flew like Senbon towards the thieves, hitting them in their back, knocking them to the ground.

Even from this distance, Kakashi could see that they weren't mortally wounded. Either they were very lucky or Calamity was a dead shot. He saw her grinning at him and he smiled, assuming the latter.

As the girls finished their fights, all eyes went to the battle between Ali and Krishna. It had become a vicious dance. As good as Krishna seemed to be, Ali was clearly a master. Nicks and cuts adorned Krishna's arms, while Ali had barely one or two.

Krishna in desperation flung the dagger at Ali and then made some hand signs that none of the ninja gathered there recognized. He breathed out a steady stream of fire that formed a wolf. The flame wolf raced towards Ali.

Ali again pulled out his coiled sword and twirled it madly, too fast for the eye to see. The flame wolf was dissipated by the assault. Krishna fell to his knees in defeat, panting.

Ali's eyes grew cold and he made some hand signs himself. He then pointed at Krishna. A torrent of ghostly wolves appeared from behind Ali out of thin air and sprinted towards Krishna. They passed through him, each taking what looked like piece of Krishna's soul with them. As the final one passed through him, he fell to the ground dead, his skin white and drawn tight over a skeletal body.

Naruto stood in shock. Nagi and Senjii as well wiped sweat away from their foreheads. The man they had fought against was in a different class from them entirely.

Kakashi saw Naruto's expression and tried to explain. "Ali is a Master of _Kalarippayattu_ Naruto. It is probably the oldest Martial Art in the world. It's called the mother of all Martial Arts. But that aside, he is at a Master Level. I doubt even I would have an easy time facing him in battle."

"What move was that?" Naruto asked. Kakashi knew what Naruto was referring to, but didn't have the answer.

"That 'move' you called it Naruto, is a secret of my clan. What Krishna did was abominable and I apologize. That woman," he said with sadness. "Did she have a family?"

Sakura turned towards Ali angrily. Not sure of what just happened, but knowing the answer to that question. "She did, a boy. Seven years old."

Ali nodded. "According to our custom that boy is now my clan's responsibility. We will raise him. Please bring him to me."

Hiroka snapped her cloth. "Hell no! _Shǎbī_!" She adopted a defensive stance. Sakura herself also took a ready stance, both quite incensed.

"Wait!" Jiraiya interjected. "Naruto, this is the custom of their clan, of their region. It would be remiss of us to deny them the chance to atone."

Naruto growled. "They lost that right when they killed this woman. Why should I allow them to take her son? That just makes no sense to me!"

Ali nodded. "We are responsible for that child's safe upbringing now since we robbed him of it."

Naruto shook his head. "But we have an orphanage, and a new village. He would be better off with us. He'd be safer for one, and have a chance to grow up with other kids his own age for another."

Ali stood firm. "No! This is my clan's honor at stake. You cannot seek to deprive us of this right. The boy will grow up as a Spirit Wolf. There is no more talking on this."

Naruto growled, waves of chakra rolling off of him. Ali felt it hitting him like the heat of the sun. He dare not show it on his face, but this level of chakra was unheard of, and frightening. What _was_ Naruto?

"We will do as I say thief." Naruto growled. His voice sounded vaguely hoarse and his eyes gave off a faint red glow.

Jiraiya rested his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Calm down Naruto. We can work out a compromise."

Ali raised an eyebrow. "Compromise? How?"

Jiriaya smiled. "Well, Naruto insists that the boy come to Tengoku. You insist your clan raises him. Why not open a Guild House in Tengoku and staff it with one or two of your men? Your _trusted_ men of course. That way the boy can still be raised as a Spirit Wolf clan member."

Sakura shouted. "No way! They just killed this woman in cold blood, and now we're just going to hand her son over to her murderers?!"

Ali shook his head. "Krishna was a bad seed. He and his friends have always been a problem for my clan. Now that they're gone, the rest of my men I trust completely."

He turned to Jiraiya and Naruto. "I do not understand why you are so willing to welcome a den of thieves into your new village. It sounds like you are trying to create an idyllic place, but the world does not allow such a place to exist. My clan has found a way to survive out here in the unnamed country. But we are still thieves."

Jiraiya chimed in. "You don't rob the poor and destitute. There are rumors of your clan assisting people in times of need. Robbing the rich, the criminal and giving money to the poor. You cannot say that you are bad people."

Hiroka and Sakura slowly began to let down their guard. Based on what Jiraiya was saying, perhaps they were misjudging the tall brown skinned man in front of them.

Ali cleared his throat. "For seven generations my clan has roamed the western world, not always has our reputation been thus. It depends on who leads."

Nagi interjected. "Right now _you_ lead. What do you intend to lead your men to?"

Ali stared at the warriors gathered around him. The three clan members he rescued were helping the ones the girls had chased and subdued.

He turned to Jiraiya and Naruto. "I accept this compromise. I myself will come to 'Tengoku' with two of my clan. We will set up our Guild house there and then I shall leave. Once the boy is raised by us I have no problem with where. But he must come with us often. Part of living as a Spirit Wolf clan member is traveling as a clan."

Naruto grinned. "Then in that case, I'm glad to welcome you to my village."

Ali shook his head. "You don't know what you may have just called upon your village, but all right. The Spirit Wolf Clan will be based out of Tengoku from this day onward."

_**Konoha Forest**_

Deep in the forest outside of Konoha, Danzo stood in a clearing waiting for the person he was meeting to arrive. This meeting was far too important and secretive to take place inside the walls of Konoha.

He knew that surrounding him were ten of his best Root Ninja for safety. He may be doing a deal here, but by no means did that mean he trusted the man.

No sooner did he think it than the man appeared, alone. Danzo was no fool though, and knew the man was not alone, and had brought along at least as many men as he had.

"Danzo," the diminutive man in front of him said.

"Onoki," Danzo nodded back. The Third Tsuchikage was a small man, but not one to be underestimated.

"Let's get right to business shall we." Onoki said. "Your plan is going well?"

"Yes," Danzo said. "Our assassination of the Daimyo went perfectly. My ROOT had infiltrated his guard and left big enough gaps for our 'assassin' to execute him believably. His successor is being chosen as we speak from the worthless royal court and then I expect we will be ordered to attack Iwa."

Onoki nodded. "Good. I'll have my army ready."

"Good. We are still weak after the attack from Orochimaru a year ago. But those bleeding hearts in Konoha are useless to me. They must be purged. My ROOT runs deep and strong. Konoha will rebuild once all remnants of the old school of thought are burned from memory." Danzo claimed quietly.

"It's an ambitious plan Danzo. Just remember our agreement." Onoki said menacingly. He trusted Danzo no more than he did a scorpion in his shoe.

"I shall stand by my word. Our battle will serve to remove the useless Ninja of Konoha, and I will be inviting the entire Fire Country royal court to witness the battle."

"And I shall do the same, the Earth Country royal court will come to witness." Onoki said.

"You take care of my problem and I'll take care of yours. No longer shall these fools run our affairs." Danzo said, turning and disappearing into the forest. Onoki watched him go with distaste, but he did admire the man's audacity and planning.

"Soon there will be no more Daimyo, no more pandering… we'll see how your village fares with no one holding us back Danzo," he whispered just under his breath before disappearing back from whence he came.

* * *

_**Tengoku**_

Tsunade watched in amazement as the newer batch of Naruto clones tore through the construction. They had averaged a floor a day on the tower, the pipes were run all over the lots they had planned out, and electricity was now coming into the main tower. The newer clones were stronger because Naruto himself had grown stronger. All the experience they had gained by building everything in this village was showing too, as all the work seemed to get done faster and easier.

Guerrera had started work on a new building for the academy. His building designs were all very similar. White walls, huge gothic columns. The whole heavenly theme permeated into all the buildings he had planned. He even drew up some plans on renovating and expanding the orphanage that he wanted to show Mabry when he returned.

Tsunade however, was more focused on the need for a proper medical clinic. They had over two hundred children in the village already, and a large portion of them were training to be warriors. They were going to need that clinic soon.

According to the map, she could see where Guerrera planned to erect the clinic, and it was right next to the academy. That was good, as far as Tsunade was concerned. She wanted some kids to learn how to be medics.

The patriarch of the Kazumi clan walked over to her. "Tsunade, I had a thought."

She stopped looking at the papers and waited for him to continue.

"I know Jiraiya was trying to figure out a way to protect the village better. He booby trapped the wind tunnel that brings us here. But I may actually know someone who can help." Tora said.

Tsunade smiled. "Really? How?"

"He's an inventor I met a few times over the course of my family's travels. He's a bit on the crazy side, but he is a genius I've never met the like of. He merges chakra and technology to invent... well, _crazy_ things. And this island, being what it is, we need a crazy invention to protect it." The old man said smiling all the while, hoping that Tsunade would approve of his idea. He blushed brightly. He knew Tsunade was younger than him - though not as young as that illusion technique made her look - but she sure was pretty to look at.

Tsunade rubbed her chin. "Sounds good to me. How do you intend to find him?"

Tora smiled and put four rocks down on the marble floor. He made a series of signs and then touched them. The rocks became owls that flapped their wings and waited for his instructions.

"Find the inventor Kenichi Tenma. Give him and no one else this paper." Tora held out a small piece of paper to each of the owls.

Tsunade frowned. "How are they going to find him?"

"Ah, but they're not ordinary owls, they're tracking owls. They can find anyone once I give them a name. But I made four to send them in the four different directions to maximize our chance for success anyway." Tora replied.

"OK good," Tsunade said. "Now about your eyes fixating on my breasts…" she glared menacingly at Tora who yelped and scampered away.

Tsunade smiled and went back to her work, planning the clinic for Tengoku.


	14. Chapter 14 : The Valley of Death

Chapter 14

The Valley of Death

_Konoha_

A soft breeze blew through the sleepy streets of Konoha. At this hour of the night, hardly anyone was awake save for the standard compliment of guards stationed around the city. One such guard, Shinta, stood at his position at the southern entrance to the city and lit his cigarette, careful to cover the light of the flame from view so as not to give away his position. He wasn't a complete moron after all.

He pulled his Chunnin jacket on tighter, hoping to keep the wind from chilling him even further. His eyes did a quick check of his perimeter and found nothing to be alarmed by.

Despite the rumblings of a pending war between Iwagakure and Konohagakure, nothing had been declared as yet. Most Konoha-nin though found it odd that Danzo had not ordered an increase in patrols or guards. Shinta scoffed. He, like most Ninja he knew, didn't trust Danzo for a second. Even in their minds they couldn't refer to him as the Hokage. Somehow that title just didn't seem to belong to him.

He sighed and pulled on his cigarette. _Two more hours till sunrise, _he thought, _I think I'll have… _

A well thrown kunai pierced Shinta's head and prevented him from ever finishing that thought. Five shadows slipped through the gate and into Konoha, leaving Shinta a lifeless lump in the dirt, the slow burn of his unfinished cigarette smoldering next to him.

The shadows didn't make the mistake of going to the Konoha rooftops; such a move would just silhouette them against the night sky. They moved with intense speed through the shadows of alleyways and dimly lit streets. The map they had memorized serving them well as they split off into one man missions.

The names on their lists would die tonight.

* * *

It was a little known fact in Konoha that Maito Gai was a very light sleeper. He would say that the fire of youthful flames kept smoldering and would not be contained even in slumber. Whatever the reason, the shadow that approached his apartment expected to find a sleeping Jounin who specialized in Taijutsu, so he should have been an easy kill for a Ninjutsu expert.

As he slid open the canvas screen door, however, the fist that crushed his nose was far from the sight of a slumbering Martial Artist that he had expected. Like a true ninja though, he did not let a little pain slow down his purpose. In one fluid movement, he stepped forward with his right leg and drew the sword from its scabbard on his left hip. With a soft whistle, the blade sliced through…the air. He looked around frantically, the man had disappeared.

With a guttural laugh, Maito Gai landed feet first on top of the intruders head, crushing him downwards into a heap on the floor. The intruder spun with the impact and twirled, fingers making quick hand seals. He fully intended to bring a torrent of stones down on Gai, his earth type jutsu were the best of the Iwa Assassination squad. However, Gai moved faster than his fingers could form the seals, and the intruder tasted the sole of Gai's boot. The side kick sent him crashing headfirst through the concrete wall and into oblivion.

* * *

Asuma and Kurenai were walking back to his apartment after a very nice night out, when the two assassins found them. A fist made of stone rose out of the ground and tried to snatch Kurenai. Simultaneously, a brace of shuriken raced their way to Asuma. He dodged the shuriken effortlessly, parrying some with his knives, only to realize that some were also illusions.

_Shit, _he thought to himself. It was infinitely harder in the heat of battle to discern illusions when they were mixed in with real weapons. He squinted his eyes seriously, glancing over to ensure that Kurenai was alright. She had disappeared from the grip of the fist. The rocks seemed to be tracking something moving, Asuma assumed it was her under the guise of a Genjutsu, trying to find the source of their attack.

He trusted in her to handle her opponent, and pumped chakra into his blades. He too needed to find his assailant. Another brace of shuriken flew at him, this time numbering at least twenty. He dodged ducked and blocked, this time one nicking his arm.

Another set of the deadly projectiles came, this time as many as forty. Asuma growled and jumped directly into them. He had seen the shadow that was his assailant. Asuma passed through a few illusionary shuriken, and twirled in mid air, landing with a side swipe at the discernible shadow. He felt his legs connect and knew he had just caught the man off guard, not having expected a counterattack. On instinct Asuma continued his spin and raised higher off the ground, pivoting on his left foot. As he made a full circle his right foot lashed out at the ninja who was falling in mid air from the side swipe kick.

The effect was brutal as his boot connected with unprotected ribs. Asuma heard them crunch as the man got thrown into the street. He saw him breathe painfully for a few seconds then stop all together. Apparently he had crushed the man's lungs.

Kurenai was having similar success against her assailant. He clearly had planned to kill her with the first blow, his subsequent attacks were clearly weaker. She supposed his chakra capacity could just be low, but that really was none of her concern.

She found him in the shadow of the closed and darkly lit noodle stand. The ninja was frantically doing jutsu after jutsu, trying to find her. She managed to get right behind him before he noticed, and by then it was too late. Her dagger slipped quietly between his ribs and he died looking at the ghost who had stabbed him.

* * *

The fourth intruder found Ibiki waiting for him quietly in his room. There were two placings for tea and Ibiki gestured to the open chair. The ninja was startled and faltered for just a few seconds from his mission, trying to comprehend. He shook it off though and reached for his shuriken.

Ibiki smiled at the man who prepared to attack him. Instead, he fell to the ground unconscious. Ibiki sipped his tea and opened a window, breathing in the fresh air. The odorless poison was strong enough to knock out his would be assassin for a day. Long enough to move him to somewhere secure to be interrogated. Ibiki smirked, his sources had told him less than a minute ago of the attack. The informant was awfully knowledgeable about the incursion, including the targets. Ibiki hoped that three of the targets were OK. The fourth he had no concerns for.

* * *

The fifth intruder stared at the empty house. It showed no sign of being lived in for at least a couple weeks, enough for a thin layer of dust had settled in. He cursed; Kakashi was clearly not in the village at the moment. His target was not there, so he had to meet back up with the others. Of all the Iwa assassins, Kogoro was the only one to have ever faced his target before in battle. That was many years ago of course, and it had been a stalemate then, although the scar running across Kogoro's chest where Kakashi's _Raikiri_ had narrowly missed was a burning reminder that he had almost lost.

He turned to go when the markers on his arm pinched one by one. He glanced at the temporary tattoos assigned on this mission as one by one they were crossed off. That meant the others were either dead or captured.

He raced for one of the exits to the village that he had memorized. He knew the consequences of being captured, and that lent speed to his movements. Unfortunately it seemed as if someone had raised the alarm and he could feel three, no maybe four, ninja chasing him. He swore violently and made several hand seals, almost there.

Five seconds later, and he could feel the ninja almost upon him, just as he finished his jutsu. He puffed into a cloud of dust and raced back into the forest. The ANBU following him saw the small dust cloud go, and even fired off a few kunai and shuriken that passed right through it.

* * *

_Iwagakure_

Two nondescript men walked into the village of Iwagakure, dressed as traders and with bags of goods. Absolutely nothing gave away the fact that they were Ninja of the Leaf, and had an arsenal hidden amongst the bags, and under their clothes.

They approached the very center of the busy marketplace of the city. An almost imperceptible signal was exchanged between them, and then the larger of the two thrust his hands into his robes and came up clutching handfuls of kunai with explosive tags attached.

He threw the kunai in one movement in an arc first to the north, and then in a repeat of his movements, to the south of the Market. Several bystanders were hit by the kunai, even though they weren't specifically aimed at people. The screams started almost immediately and the Iwa ninja police raced towards the two men.

In the blink of an eye, the world changed. The collective force of the simultaneous explosions rocked the city. Dust and debris flung high into the midday sky. Bodies and body parts rained down on the city. The devastation was incredible.

The Ninja Police found the two intruders unscathed in the center of the Market. The smaller one was making seals and chanting. The police could see a barely discernible dome over the two of them. The larger one readied another round of tags inside the dome.

The head of the Iwa police force, Tatsuyi, was no fool. This was a coordinated attack and those two ninja were clearly a team accustomed to working together. They expected them to try to attack them, kill them.

He made some quick hand seals and slammed his fist into the ground. A dome of rock formed out of the ground. Moving up and shifting until finally the hole at the top of the dome was filled, sealing the two inside. Another Ninja Police officer ran up and touched the dome of rock, as he did so it hardened even further into near steel. His clan ability being one that can refine the minerals found in dirt. Very useful when your country's jutsu were earth based.

A faint vibration of the dome told the police that the two had tried to blast their way out. The head of police shook his head. Inside that dome with no escape, no air, the explosion would have killed them, and if it didn't the sudden loss of all the oxygen would have.

He surveyed the damage in the marketplace. It was disheartening to think that all these innocent people had died so brutally. He couldn't know for sure, but he felt strongly that the two were Konoha-nin. He saw a trader close to him struggling to get to his feet. He reached over and held out his hand with a concerned look.

"Come on, I'll help you to the hospital," he said. As he looked into the man's eyes, he felt warning bells go off in his brain but it was far too late of course to do anything about it. Tatsuyi became slightly glassy eyed and then straightened his back and walked away without a word. The man on the ground collapsed back down.

The war they'd all heard rumblings about had officially started.

* * *

Danzo surveyed his gathered Jounin and Chunnin. They lined the southern edge of a large valley with heavy forests, a small lake, and a river running through it. It was the perfect battlefield for Ninja and it was where they stare across the distance at the Iwa army. He could see the banner of the Iwa Royal Court, there to witness the glory of their army's victory. He smirked and glanced left. The Fire Country Royal Court was off to the opposing side, perched where they could clearly see the battlefield. The fools thought this would be entertaining.

His primary ninja force stood behind him. He knew that many were unwilling participants, but that did not matter. They were still Konoha Ninja and fierce loyalty to Konoha would drive them to fight. He spoke loudly for them to hear.

"I know many of you hate me, but I care not for such foolishness. Ahead is our enemy, the enemy of Konoha, the enemy of our Daimyo. That is all you should care about. Look at them, hate them; kill them. We take no prisoners today."

There was a bristling in the gathered ninja and an almost perceptible electric current in the air.

Danzo squinted and looked into the valley where the Iwa ninja had begun to enter.

"Go," he ordered, and his ninja vanished from behind him and headed to the battlefront.

Rock Lee, Ten Ten and Neji raced down the hill, Gai leading the way. They would be the second line of attack as close range fighters. The long range Ninjutsu experts would be firing off salvos about now. As if on cue, fireballs flew the length of the valley towards the Iwa side. However a whistling sound signaled that the Iwa long range experts were also engaging. Boulders the size of Chouji in cannonball mode rained down upon them. Lee and his team dodged them effortlessly, racing for the clash up ahead.

Gai made several hand signals while running. The team didn't bother to respond as Gai's back was to them. They broke rank and split off into different directions, making a sprinting circle to meet fifty meters ahead where Gai had spotted the enemy racing towards them.

A five man team of Rock ninja emerged from the foliage. The one who was clearly the leader rushed at Gai. The other four hanging back slightly, looking for other Konoha nin. They were not disappointed as Lee was a whirlwind of kicks and punches, taking two Iwa nin to the ground with broken bones.

Tenten exploded out of a bush and threw a brace of kunai at her target. He pulled a wall of dirt from the ground to block them and created spikes of rock which erupted and seemed to chase after Tenten. She took to the air in a massive jump and unleashed a hailstorm of weapons. The ninja tried to block and dodge but there were too many. He pulled a kiwaraima, only to find as he appeared that Tenten had faster reflexes than he did and threw a kunai directly into his chest.

Neji was a blur of hand thrusts. His enemy was quick, but no match one on one for his deadly palm strikes. This was no Chunnin match, so Neji held no punches. Each strike incapacitated, permanently. The man shrieked in pain as Neji's last strike caused his heart to explode.

Gai was a force of nature. There was a reason he was as feared as Kakashi was. His Taijutsu was unstoppable. Using his elbows to ward off hand strikes from the Rock Nin, Gai's fists flew into the man's head, neck and chest. In circular hits, Gai hit the man in his chest, ten, twenty, fifty times as he fell backwards onto the grassy forest floor.

He looked up at his team, glad they were all OK. Hearing a unique whistling noise coming closer, he looked up and saw a huge boulder almost upon them.

"Move!" Gai shouted and they dove out of the way as the round rock crashed and rolled back towards the Konoha side.

* * *

Shikamaru hid in the thick leaves of an oak tree. Asuma stood below the tree, pressed against it, knives drawn. Their tactic was going to be an ambush, waiting for Iwa ninja to pass by. Ino was also hidden. Chouji stood ready to support Asuma in any actual attacks.

A lone rock nin came crashing through the bushes. He saw Asuma by the tree and made some hand signs. The ground fell away into a sinkhole, causing the tree Shikamaru was in to collapse. He dared not give away his position though so he held on tight as the tree fell.

Ino concentrated and pushed the man's mind to the side as she took over his body. His friends showed up a second later and she/he turned on them and buried a Kunai into one's chest. He gurgled and collapsed, taking her/him down with him. Ino left his body just as another rock ninja speared him.

Asuma ran in with his knives, battling the spear wielder. Shikamaru had recovered by now and latched his shadow technique onto the man. He froze with his spear extended and Asuma slid in and cut his throat.

Ino looked away from the blood. It wasn't a fair fight, but as Asuma told them before they left Konoha, this was war.

* * *

Shino, Kiba and Hinata stood at the side of the new Daimyo and his Royal Court, which was the entire royal family. It was decided their talents would be better suited for defense. Shino had his bugs around the area, and Kiba and Akamaru were smelling for anything suspicious. They were supported by at least ten Anbu in their task of protecting the Royal Court.

They could see small pieces of battles through the trees. Hinata clenched her fists every time someone she recognized fought. Kiba was annoyed to be left out of the main battle, but understood that it was likely they'd see action anyway.

Scores of ninja poured into the thick forest below. Fireballs and rocks flew the length of the valley, falling into the patches of ninja; both sides trusting that their own comrades could avoid the barrage. They saw a huge hand slam down in the midst of the fighting. Chouji's clan was definitely doing massive damage to the Iwa ranks.

A sudden explosion rocked the valley. Hinata stared with her activated Byakugan at the battlefield.

"One of the Rock nin is exploding the boulders that the others threw into the valley. He's converting them into small sharp shrapnel," she said her voice taut with tension.

One of the ANBU cursed.

Shino spoke up. "That would be Tatsuo. He's in the Konoha bingo book."

A coordinated series of blasts with the telltale sound of exploding tags closely followed. Screams echoed up the valley. The smoke was making even the Byakugan almost useless to see the action below. The royal court though seemed to be enjoying the show. They cheered as they heard explosions, and had a story teller giving them an elaborately embellished rundown of the events as they took place.

Hinata was completely disgusted by them. People were dying. Konoha and Iwa alike.

* * *

The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, scowled as he surveyed the battlefield. He was losing many men. This battle was quickly becoming a melee. That was the plan yes, but he didn't want to sacrifice too many men, he needed them for what came next.

He looked left where a small squad of ninja waited. "Go," he ordered. They disappeared in an instant. He was proud of his assassination unit. He hoped Danzo would hold up his end of the bargain, but if not, he had a backup plan for that too.

One didn't get to be Tsuchikage without thinking ahead.

Danzo signaled his own team of root ninja and they too disappeared in a flash. He fixed his steely gaze on the far ridge where he knew the Iwa Royal Court lay. He fought the urge to glance over at his own royals. The plan had come this far, nothing would stop it now.

He knew what was going to happen just as it did. A single scream. An ANBU took an arrow meant for one of the Court. A lady of the court shrieking as his blood spurted onto her finery. Five ninja appeared from nowhere, clubbing the Hyugga heir unconscious. The bug child fought bravely with one, but the ninja he was fighting used an exploding fireball jutsu and sent him flying back down the cliffside. The dog boy did the best, actually killing one of the assassins, tearing out his throat with his bare hands.

One of the assassins though quickly put four kunai into both Kiba and his dog. They lay in the dirt, barely breathing, while the assassins continued to decimate the ANBU stationed there and the Royal court.

Danzo had positioned himself far enough away from them that even his attempt to 'rescue' them may seem genuine, but would be futile. He knew the caliber of assassins Iwa had.

Almost as good as Konoha's.

The Konoha assassins were as good as Danzo had promised, Onoki noticed. Within seconds they had taken out the guards he had stationed around the court, and subsequently drugged to slow their reflexes. He knew Danzo would have done the same. Old warriors don't take chances.

Onoki knew it was coming of course, as soon as the last royal was killed, the assassins sped towards him and his personal bodyguard across the ridge. He grinned, he had overestimated Danzo if this was the best plan the old fool had come up with.

Danzo watched as the Iwa assassins killed the last royal. He and his men were running towards them in an effort to 'save' the royals. He couldn't help his smile as the last one died. Perfect.

He stopped his men and made two hand signals.

A hailstorm of Senbon rained down upon the assassins. Two managed to escape the barrage, disappearing back down the cliff. Out of the bushes came four of Danzo's most trusted Root ninja. His most powerful.

"Snake and Scorpion, take the west ridge. Centipede and Gecko, the East. You know what to do."

* * *

Onoki laughed as the last Konoha assassin was killed. It was time. He fired off a special blue fireball into the sky. There was a thunderous roar and a huge four tailed gorilla came into sight. Danzo had actually been expecting this. His spies had told him that Iwagakure had at least one of the tailed beasts.

Grimly, Danzo watched as the beast stepped into the valley, wreaking havoc on the Konoha Nin. Onoki was being a better puppet than anticipated.

He saw a small spec launch itself from the East ridge and land on the Gorilla's arm. What followed next was thunderous. The root ninja known as Centipede, was a flurry of punches and kicks, each one a thunderclap that echoed in the valley. The fighting warriors below actually stopped and stared as Centipede rapidly destroyed the left arm of the giant Gorilla. Each punch seemed to explode, the Chakra that made up the monster dissipating and falling away.

Onoki stared in disbelief. One lone ninja was destroying his greatest weapon.

Danzo smiled. Centipede's chakra poison attack was strong enough and fast enough to disrupt the control of the Jinchūriki. The Gorilla swiped at him but he just jumped and landed on his other arm, running up the shoulder to the head. Again, kicks and fists and destruction.

Onoki cursed and wished Han was here. That damn Jinchūriki had gone off on a private mission months ago and hadn't been seen since. Onoki had to use Rōshi even though his control of the Yanbi was far from perfect. He was still a formidable weapon though and the ease with which he was being taken down disturbed the Tsuchikage.

He called his reserve Ninja, in hiding for this moment. Fifty fresh ninja appeared, ready for battle. "It's time. Kill the Hokage!"

The Ninja ran into the valley, racing for the southern side, jumping from treetop to treetop.

Danzo of course saw them coming, and just waited. Another hailstorm of Senbon rained down, this time into the valley. It was a massive sight, millions of needles falling from the sky. He knew Snake and Scorpion were expert poison senbon users, so he had no doubt that no one struck would survive.

Gai saw the needles begin to rain down and shouted to his Genin team. "Underground! Now!"

Neji and Ten Ten used the Ninjutsu hidden earth technique and vanished in an instant. Lee didn't have that option but he had been taught another by Gai Sensei. He raised his foot directly over his head and brought it down with all his might. An explosion of earth and he had made a hole big enough for himself to get into. He dove in and punched the side of the hole, caving it in and holding his breath. He hoped he could hold it long enough for the Senbon storm to end.

Shikamaru and his team saw the needles coming too. They were exhausted from chakra use though and couldn't do the hidden earth technique. Shikamaru had them do the next best thing. They dove under the bodies of the Iwa Ninja they had killed, just as the first needles began to strike the ground. They could feel the dull impact as the needles struck the lifeless bodies flesh.

Chouji grunted and muttered under his breath. "I will not die as a shish-kebab." He held onto the two bodies he used as a shield tightly and waited for the Senbon storm to be over.

* * *

Onoki cursed as he saw his assassins fall victim to the Senbon Storm. A few made it past the first wave, and continued to race towards Danzo.

A shadow of movement and one was dead with a finger strike to his throat. Gecko had joined them on the treetops, balancing precariously but effortlessly on the very tip of a Fir tree. He made some fast hand movements then launched at them.

In a display of Taijutsu that might give Gai a run for his money, he killed the remaining assassins in a matter of seconds.

Onoki growled and turned to order his men to retreat. This battle was lost. The Jinchuriki was defeated and his army was at best in a battle of attrition at this point. The plan had worked, the two royal courts were killed, but Onoki's own plan to kill Danzo had been overturned.

As he turned to tell his general to order the men back, one of his personal guards - a man he knew from a child and had grown up to be head of the Iwagakure police, Tatsuyi - thrust a Kunai into his chest. Onoki spurted blood and fell to his knees as the other guards turned on Tatsuyi and killed him. Onoki lay in the dust and saw Tatsuyi's eyes unglazed just before the moment of death; the look of horror on his face as he realized what he'd just done.

Onoki died looking at Tatsuyi's face.

* * *

Danzo smiled grimly. The Tsuchikage and the Earth Country Royal Court were dead. It was time for the final blow. This one was mental though. He did a fast hand sign and touched his throat. This jutsu would ensure that all the warriors could hear him for miles around.

"Ninja of Konohagakure and Iwagakure! Stop fighting! The Tsuchikage and the Royal courts of both Fire and Earth have been wiped out! This battle is over! I, Danzo, Hokage of Konohagakure, do hereby take control of the Land of Earth and the village of Iwagakure! All Rock Ninja who will swear allegiance to me will be spared! All others will be killed immediately! I am your conquering Lord, the power supreme in our countries. Swear allegiance! Swear it on your honor!"

On signal, another barrage of Poison Senbon rained down into the valley. Shouts of pain and anguish rose up from the valley.

"None will be allowed to leave this valley alive unless you have sworn allegiance! Choose!" Danzo shouted with finality.

Gai and his team dug their way up from the dirt, Lee exhausted and breathless, the others nearly as bad. They had heard the proclamation of Danzo. They had won the war, but what was he doing trying to take over the Earth Country?

Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino stood up and faced the southern ridge where Danzo stood.

"He's done it," Shikamaru said quietly.

"I'm afraid so," Asuma agreed. "He's molding himself into the feudal warlord of both countries."

"What does that mean for us?" Ino asked.

"It means we need to keep our secret even better than before Ino," Shikamaru said gravely, as Rock ninja surrendered to the will of the new Lord of Fire and Earth.

* * *

_Tengoku_

Mabry's wagon burst through the clouds, and landed with a bump continuing to roll. It was followed by several other wagons, coming through the clouds one at a time. They all landed roughly but managed to maintain their balance and loads.

Naruto sprung out of Mabry's wagon first, excited to be back home. It dawned on him that he actually considered this place his home. He grinned broadly and stared wide-eyed at the progress his village had made. None of his clones had dissipated in a while, this batch was much stronger than any before.

The white tower was finished.

Over 12 stories tall, it stood shimmering in the daylight. A giant quartz stone set in the top, shaped to be a ball with many facets set all over it. It reflected light in all directions, including down onto the white stone walls of the tower, making it seem like it was glowing.

Naruto felt a warmth run through him. Senji and Nagi fell in behind him and look up in awe at the tower. It was indeed a spectacle to behold.

Sakura, Hiroka and their new friend Calamity also walked over from Mabry's wagon. Calamity was dumbstruck. This place was more than she'd ever imagined it could be.

One by one the new villagers came out of the wagons. Naruto turned back to them and said loudly.

"Welcome home!"


	15. Chapter 15 : The Chambers

**Chapter 15**

**The Chambers**

Naruto sat perched on a large flat boulder, trying to remain perfectly still. A gentle breeze blew at his hair and slow beads of sweat dripped down his back. The sun beat down on him, not too hot though considering it was noon. Tenchi had explained that it was the time of year, they wouldn't get snow, but it would get cooler. Naruto focused as best he could on 'nothing' like Pa had instructed him. The Sage training had begun almost immediately upon his return to Tengoku.

Naruto had hardly seen his friends since he came back. Pa and Ma Toad had agreed to train Naruto here in Tengoku, but insisted that he could not have company, or a break from training other than to sleep, until he had achieved a certain level. When he asked what that level would be, Pa had replied very firmly, "I will tell you when you reach it."

A brightly colored red Macaw landed nearby and let out a screech that he ignored as best as he could, but he flinched anyway. Pa smacked him on the head with his walking stick.

"Again!" He commanded Naruto.

Naruto scowled and rubbed his head. "How am I supposed to keep perfectly still with all these distractions?!"

Pa growled at him. "You must learn to ignore minor distractions Naruto. Now start over." Naruto sighed and closed his eyes, letting the wind run over his body for the hundredth time today.

* * *

Senjii watched as Old Man Tora held his first class. The warrior academy was still being built by Naruto clones, so for right now they were under a large white tent, learning about the theories of various martial arts as well as other basic schooling. It was unanimously agreed that the school day would be divided into two sections, normal schooling including reading and mathematics, and warrior training.

Senjii was watching Tora instruct the sleepy class in mathematics currently and he himself felt like he could doze off at any second. He understood the need for it, but it was god awfully boring.

He glanced over at the children. There were three tents, with a general age grouping under each tent give or take a few years. Tora was teaching the 'older' generation of children, the young teens and older teens. Mabry was talking to the group below that; ages seven to ten. Of all people, Guerrera was the one who had volunteered for the kindergarten children; ages four to seven.

Guerrera was splitting his time between teaching in the mornings, and his masonry work after lunch. So far it was working, and everyone could tell he had a real soft spot for his class. They loved him as well.

Senjii was there because it was coming up on the class switch, and he was told by Tenchi to come assist him with the first class.

Tenchi strolled up to Senjii and looked over at the class. He smiled warmly. "Feels like a lot of potential doesn't it?"

Senjii shrugged but smiled. "We'll see I guess. You going to do the Chambers training my sensei put us through?"

Tenchi nodded. "The first few, not all thirty five. It will give them a strong base without specializing them in one martial art. After that we can do specialist courses for those who want to choose."

Senjii grinned, these young warriors in training were in for a real treat. _Well, they wouldn't think so right now, but maybe when they look back at it, _he thought to himself.

Senjii could just about make out the three orphans Naruto had saved from the half demon Ji-Hoon. They were off to the side of the class, Mirrun and Gennosuke looking very calm in their white training clothes. Syrren seemed fidgety, itching to get out of the oppressively boring classroom. Next to them were the Kazimo twins Junya and Fuki, paying rapt attention to their grandfather.

"OK class! That's it for our lesson today," Tora concluded, to an almost imperceptible sigh of relief from the teenagers. They raced out of the room into the sunlight of the training grounds.

Tenchi lead them all outside to an area he had clearly set up beforehand, where there was a large ditch filled with water and floating logs not having been there the day before. Various obstacles and areas were set up all over the field.

Senjii could not suppress his grin, this was going to be fun to watch. The older generation, or the First Class, as Naruto referred to them, would be doing the training with Tenchi and Senjii. The Second Class was off doing physical fitness with Shizune and one of the new Citizens of Tengoku, an instructor named Yuan. The Third Class was too young for anything other than naptime or going back home to their parents or the orphanage, so they were welcome to watch the training exercises that they themselves would be doing in a few years.

The First Class lined up in front the man-made moat and stared across at Tenchi.

"Balance." Tenchi spoke to them in a commanding ringing voice. "The first thing any and all warriors must have. It doesn't matter if you're a ninja, a samurai, a grappler or a kung fu master. All the basic principles are the same. If you look here the sign says '1st Chamber'. There are seven basic chambers that you will need to complete in order to move onto your fighting style of choice. Some of you may want to continue down the path of the Chambers. I will guide those that wish to go down that path."

"There are currently many different fighting styles that you can choose to learn in Tengoku, and we hope to add even more as the village builds. The Art of the Ninja, the Way of the Samurai, the Dance of Capoeira, the High Flying Lucha Libre. Any of these plus any style you wish to learn, can be taught to you. But first…" he pointed forcefully to the water and the logs floating on it. "First you must cross without getting wet. Any students with special abilities are not allowed to use it, that means you Syrren, and you Kristen." Senjii glanced at the two children in question. Syrren he knew could turn into water and emerge on the other side perfectly easily. He did not know about the Kristen girl, but he'd ask Tenchi later.

"Begin!" Tenchi shouted. In lines of two at a time, the students raced into the water, trying to run on the logs. Almost instantly it became a chaotic scene of splashes and drenched young teenagers. As one fell in, he or she was directed to climb out and go to the back of the line to try again.

Senjii laughed, remembering the time he had spent doing this training himself. It had taken him a week to figure out how to cross. Tenchi came over and shared his mirth.

"Oi Sensei, what's with the girl Kristen?" Tenchi pointed at one thirteen year old girl, who laughed as she climbed out of the water.

"She can pass through objects. Rock, sand, earth, water, nothing can stop her. She's one of Mabry's kids." Tenchi said matter of factly. Senjii whistled softly. The academy sure had some gifted people, when they were trained up, he'd almost feel sorry for anyone that picked Tengoku as an enemy. _Almost. _

* * *

Guerrera strolled over to his shop. He had enjoyed spending the morning with the children. He smiled as he saw Hiroka playing with his daughter Gabriella. The young female warrior had taken a strong liking to her, as did Hiroka's other friends. Not a day had gone by that either Sakura, Hiroka or the wild one that called herself Calamity hadn't been at his shop spending time with his daughter. It did free him up to teach on mornings, and a kind lady from the - now teeming with life - village would be there soon to watch her while he continued his construction projects.

He glanced at his 'shop'. It was finished before he could start on the Academy. Naruto and the other 'founders' of the village had insisted he make a decent home for himself and Gabriella before he began any more buildings. He had said he did not mind sleeping in the tower, but he did prefer his own place. No sooner had he said that than Tenchi had mapped out a nice lot close by that gave him a great view and easy access to everything. A few of Naruto's clones had shifted to work on his home and shop. He kept the heavenly theme, white stone walls, arches and pillars. He had to admit it was the most luxurious looking Blacksmith and Masonry shop he had ever seen, but this sort of thing would be the norm for Tengoku.

"Hi Guerrera!" Hiroka smiled at him. "Is it noon already?" She glanced at the sky, the sun in the exact middle. The light from the giant quartz stone that was at the top of the white tower reflected rainbows of light down to her. Not for the first time, a question formed in her mind. Guerrera saw the expression on her face and laughed.

"How many times is it now?" he asked her.

She smiled and gave a small laugh, "I've lost track," she replied.

"OK, well tell me your guess today," he said as he picked up his cooing daughter and touched his masked forehead to hers.

Hiroka cocked her head to the side. "Well Sakura seems to think its possible you found the stone while quarrying the fields for white stone for the tower."

Guerrera laughed. "No. I did not find the stone here on this island."

"Damnit!" Hiroka scowled. "That eliminates finding it here, buying it from a lost prince, stealing it from a warlord, a gift from the actual Heaven, and it not being really there but just an illusion."

"That's about right," Guerrera agreed. "None of those are the true origin of the beacon light."

Hiroka stood up and sighed. "I wish you'd just tell us, we're all dying to know! Even Jiraiya refused to tell us. Said it was your secret to tell."

Guerrera nodded. "Someday I will explain how it came to be in my possession..." He lifted up a giggling Gabriella, playing with her before the babysitter came. "…but today is not that day."

Hiroka spied Sakura and Calamity over by a fountain that a pair of Naruto

* * *

clones were finishing. She smiled at the sight of her friends. She hadn't expected to make such good friends in Sakura, and now the new girl Calamity. They just…clicked. Calamity was a year older than Hiroka at nineteen, and Sakura was a few years younger. But the three of them had become inseparable.

Calamity had so far resisted changing her outfit, and that was the task at hand for the girls this afternoon.

"Hi Hiroka. How was Gabby today?" Sakura asked brightly.

"Great! Oh, and you were wrong about the quarry," Hiroka replied. They stood their chatting while the Naruto clones happily laid smooth stones down on the lip of the soon to be functioning fountain.

"So girls, what are we doing today?" Calamity asked. Her father was still preparing his restaurant for opening day, but he had run her out of the shop to go spend time with her friends.

"Today, you officially join our squad Cala," Hiroka said flatly. She had taken to shortening her friends' names just to poke at them.

"Girls, I said I would already. But after my dad's place opens I need to help him run it," Calamity replied. This was the tenth time they were having this discussion.

"Yes," Sakura interjected. "But most ninja in my village had day jobs as well. There isn't always a mission to go on. And you just HAVE to join us. We're a team!"

Calamity laughed but Hiroka nodded. "Yes, have you looked at how Senjii's team is constructed?"

Sakura whispered under her breath, "…Naruto's team…"

Hiroka continued uninterrupted. "The boys perfectly balance each other out. Nagi is a short range specialist. He uses his fists and feet in close range combat. My Senjii is a medium range expert. His swordsmanship covers that. Naruto is an all around fighter, but can pull off massive long range attacks from what we've heard. Together their teamwork is perfect."

Calamity cocked her head and looked thoughtful. "That's all true. They do work well together. It helps that they're all best friends."

Sakura nodded. "Like us. I'm a close range fighter. Hiroka's style is mid range. So your archery skills would balance us perfectly with your long range attacks."

Calamity sighed and they started walking down the street. "My dad agrees with you. I was going to tell you, he says he would be proud of me protecting our new home. He thinks Naruto is the greatest person who ever lived to be able to build this place, and to invite us to move here. He says I can help out at the restaurant, but he can manage if I need to leave."

"Yay!" Hiroka exclaimed and hugged Calamity. "Now, just one last thing." She looked calamity up and down. She wore rough working long legged pants, and a boy's shirt with the sleeves rolled up. A short kerchief tied around her neck.

"This look will not do for our team," Hiroka said scornfully. Sakura nodded in a serious manner.

"What's wrong with my clothes dammit?" Calamity asked.

"The villagers may be calling the boys team _Daitenshi_, but I'd rather we, the first girls team, were known not only as warrior angels, but as heavenly beauties as well!" She smiled with stars in her eyes. "You my friend Cala, need a makeover!"

With that Sakura and Hiroka each grabbed an arm of the mildly protesting Calamity and continued their walk into the hustle and bustle of the still building village.

* * *

As they walked through the main street, Sakura noticed that the stores were all taking on similar styles and qualities of Guerrera's house and shop. The Naruto clones that were everywhere in the village were perfecting the masonry work needed to make strong, sturdy structures that matched the heavenly theme.

Inari walked by with a few pipes under his arm and smiled at them. Sakura knew he wanted to join the Academy, but admired his resolve to finish the job first.

She looked up at the sky as they neared the first shop. The hot midday sun was disappearing behind some dark clouds. It looked like it might rain a little bit later.

* * *

That night, thunderous rain and lightning pelted the village of Tengoku. Lightning struck the white tower repeatedly, but all the bolts seemed to go straight to the beacon light which just glowed brighter. Some citizens of the village didn't have proper homes built yet, so were going to stay in their wagons, but Naruto had invited them all into the tower for the night. He reasoned there was room for all, and he wanted everyone to think of each other as family.

It worked wonders on the people. The first two floors were full of families, laughing and talking to each other. Even those who could sleep in their houses chose to stay with everyone else in the tower.

Nagi, on a dare from Senjii, stood on a barrel and started to sing a song he had picked up in his travels. Several citizens laughed and joined in, the song a fairly well known one in certain regions. Nagi danced a small jig as he sang.

"_'Twas down by the glenside,  
I met an old woman,  
A'plucking young nettles,  
Nor thought I was coming;  
I listened awhile  
To the song she was humming,  
"Glory O, glory O,  
To the Bold __**Tengoku**__ men!""_

The crowd roared in approval as Nagi modified the song to refer to their village. He launched into the second verse and many voices rose to accompany him. Naruto cried tears of laughter, clapping along to the song. Outside the thunder raged and rain pounded against the walls to the oblivion of the citizens. A few guys looked at each other and ran out the doors into the rain, only to return before Nagi could finish the verse with their instruments. They cued up and played alongside him.

Sakura, Hiroka and a newly dressed Calamity held hands and danced around the barrel that Nagi was on. This was of course a sign for all who wanted too to join in and dance as well. The trio of Spirit Wolf clan members who were there were the first to show off their dancing, as well as laughing uproariously and singing along even louder than Nagi was.

Tsunade downed another cup of sake. A fine wines establishment was opening and its owner had brought a few bottles to this impromptu get together. She heard something hit the building then, but ignored it, thinking it was another lightning strike. She laughed seeing Nagi almost topple off the barrel, his dancing getting a little out of hand considering his foothold, the odd sound forgotten for now.

* * *

When the first rays of morning light hit the tower, the light hit the beacon and filtered down into the building. Carefully placed seals and crystals reflected and enhanced the light, flooding the interior. Naruto stretched and yawned. The party had lasted until early morning, and he had only gone to bed to the insistence of Pa Toad who said the training today would not be any easier if he didn't sleep.

He looked out the window and sighed. Went to the bathroom, showered, changed, and leapt out the window onto the street. He landed gracefully and stood up straight, bending backwards to stretch his back, his hands on his hips. Looking up and slightly back he saw something against the side of the White Tower.

"What on earth???" he exclaimed and turned around. A huge billowing cloth with a multitude of ropes dangling from it was stuck against the tower. From a few of the ropes hung what Naruto knew was a bicycle, but this one had a giant fin behind it, and an oddly thin man in a dripping wet black suit waving down at him.

"I say, hello down there! Sorry to be a bother but I've been up here a rather long time!" The man shouted down at Naruto.

Naruto stared up at him incredulously but was in too much shock to move. "Who are you? How did you get up there?"

The man smiled weakly. "My name is Yoshiro Nakamatsu. And my dirigible ran into your tower here last night in the storm. Not that I mind of course, that storm made my life flash before my eyes. Do you know how many inventions I've done in retrospect? Over five hundred. That's not a bad lifetime achievement. I pondered this as I faced my death in the storm. But then I saw the light in the sky, and I tried my best to steer towards it. What seems like hours later, I ran into your tower here. I tried calling for help but the storm was rather loud; and I could have sworn I heard singing for a while."

Naruto stared at him slack jawed for a minute but then shook himself awake and walked up the tower wall, applying chakra to his feet to accomplish the task.

"Well that's simply amazing now isn't it!" Yoshiro exclaimed at seeing a boy walk up a wall.

"Hold on a second Mr. Nakamatsu," Naruto said as he approached the man. He un-looped some of the rope from around the man's body and then held onto his hand. Naruto smiled at him warmly.

"You ready?" he asked. The man looked relieved to be untied and perplexed at the question.

"Ready for what?"

Naruto lifted the man out of the bicycle and held on tight, jumping off the wall. The man held onto Naruto tightly as they plummeted to the ground. Naruto used his one free hand to push some wind chakra to slow their descent a bit, but they still landed fairly unceremoniously.

Yoshiro extricated himself from Naruto and brushed off his coat. Naruto noticed he was wearing a black suit with a red bow tie. A tool belt was strapped around his waist with all manner of tiny contraptions that Naruto had never seen before.

"I really should have brought my descent device, it would have made coming down from there much simpler. But my KongMing cycle didn't have room now did it. No Yoshi it did not." The man seemed to carry on a conversation with himself.

Naruto looked a little taken aback at this. He'd never met someone who seemed as …off…as this man appeared to be.

"Oi Naruto!" Senjii walked out of the tower, stretching as he did so. "Who's your friend?"

Yoshiro stood up straighter and cleared his throat. "I am the scientist and inventor Yoshiro Nakamatsu! Creator of the Parabolic Warming Umbrella, PyonPyon Spring Shoes, and the Karaoke Machine!"

He flourished a beaker and a pen, "The beauty of invention! The thrill of success! The magnitude of helping the world with advancements in technology! No one knows these things more than I do!"

Senjii and Naruto both stared at the man, jaws open. Nagi and the girls' team had also woken up and witnessed Yoshiro's introduction.

"Welcome to Tengoku Mr. Nakamatsu," Tenchi said walking out of the tower. He too had witnessed the introduction. "Pardon me, but we're all a bit surprised at your sudden appearance."

"Well yes I can understand that." Yoshiro said. "It was most fortunate for me though, finding this village. Tengoku you say? Heaven? Perhaps Yoshi did not survive the night?"

Jiraiya approached. The villagers had begun to leave the tower to head back to their homes and businesses still under construction. They eyed Yoshiro curiously as they passed by.

Mabry looked at Yoshiro and grinned. "I remember you. You were run out of a village I was passing through because your house kept exploding. They said your experiments were a nuisance to their society."

Yoshiro sighed. "Sadly I cannot tell you which village that was. It has been too many times to count."

Naruto grinned and slapped Yoshiro on the back. "Well Tenchi had it right, welcome to Tengoku Mr. Nakamatsu! We hope you'll like it here."

* * *

Tsunade groaned and rubbed her head. _Too much Sake last night_, she thought. With a stretch she was off her bed and looking out the window. The hospital site was the first thing she saw. Some Naruto clones had already begun work on it this morning. She frowned at the sight. Not because the building was unsatisfactory, but because she had no one to staff it.

True that the village was still fairly small. Only a couple hundred people. But it would grow, and they'd need doctors and nurses. Soon.

She hoped she could convince some of the new villagers to join her, but for now all the children seemed more interested in emulating Naruto and being a fighter.

Tsunade sighed and walked out into the main hall, hoping that today she could scrounge up some new apprentices or nursing students.

* * *

Ali stared at the building that Naruto had given him for the Spirit Wolf Guild house. It was just that. A house. A five story house with space for meetings and a kitchen on the first floor, and four floors of bedroom space. He could easily fit his entire clan into this one building. Of course it wasn't finished, the Naruto clones were busy putting up brick walls and slathering concrete on it. But the main structure was there, and the first floor was completed.

Ali was astounded. What also astounded him was that the huge man in the mask had carved a stone circular tablet four feet in diameter to be placed over the entranceway to their Guild. That stone was in the shape of a wolf's head and had the symbols for their clan around it.

"Boss, it's something else isn't it?" one of his subordinates said in wonderment. They had been in Tengoku less than three weeks and the novelty of the place just never seemed to wear off.

"Yeah boss, look at that symbol. It will be with much pride that our brotherhood calls this place home. We've never had a home," the other thief said.

"No," Ali said softly. "No we haven't. Naruto has kept his word and our honor is now bound to this place. However," he said as he peeled off his shirt and flexed his sinewy muscles. "I will forever be damned by Kali herself if I let someone else finish my brotherhood's first real home." Ali walked over and picked up a palette of bricks and moved to help the Naruto clones finish the wall they were working on. The two other men followed their leader into the building happily, ready to work hard.

* * *

Jiraiya sat down under a large umbrella overlooking the training field where the students were for the second day in a row, trying to cross a log filled pond. Next to him sat their new guest, Yoshiro or Yoshi as he referred to himself.

They had been talking long about Yoshi's past and what his plans were for the future. He had asked officially to stay in Tengoku as a citizen; it wasn't like he had anywhere else in particular to go back to. Naruto hadn't even stopped on his way to Training but shrugged and smiled. He had said_ Of course, I thought that was understood from the moment I took you down from the bicycle._

Yoshi was fascinated by the concept of the island and held a piece of the solid cloud in his grasp.

"You know it occurs to me that this place while impossible to find, once found is impossible to defend. I mean everything is wide open. How do you get up here? " Yoshi asked.

"There's a windstream that picks up objects in some mountains far below and shoots us up. We land over there in that solid cloud bank and walk over to the island." Jiraiya responded.

Yoshi looked over towards where Jiraiya pointed and shook his head. "Now that just won't do. What if someone sends a bomb up the wind stream? Or the army of a warlord? They'd be in your home before you knew what was happening."

Jiraiya shrugged. "I put in some seals where the wind tunnel can be accessed, but its not foolproof."

Yoshi pulled out a pad and a pen. "I need some measurements. Yes Yoshi I know, its fascinating, now be quiet while Yoshi thinks. Perhaps an obstacle that will allow the wind but not objects."

Jiraiya squirmed uncomfortably as the scientist spoke to himself, _Guess__ he must be alone a lot. No one but yourself for company._

"What are you thinking Yoshi?" Jiraiya asked after seeing Yoshi write down a bunch of incomprehensible numbers.

"Why, I'm thinking a gate of sorts. A sturdy gate that would only let certain people enter. But I need measurements, cloud samples. Data! More data! More!" Yoshi said with a mad smile and rushed off to do his research.

Jiraiya shook his head. The man was mad as a hatter, but he had to admit, the self fanning umbrella he was sitting under (another Yoshi invention) may just make the man bearable to be around. He sighed and watched as yet another young student ended up dunked in the pond.

* * *

Ji-Hoon stared at the ground before him. Kyuubi had been here. He looked out over the broken port city of Carachi. At the split houses, the cluttered streets, the hundreds of vultures that circled and infiltrated every inch of this city filled with the rotting corpses of the dead pirates who attacked the city. Ji-Hoon absolutely loved this place.

He cackled madly and drifted lazily through the town. He chanted a spell and threw some black dust into the air. The dust seemed to multiply and spread all over town. One by one the pirate corpses shifted, then rose and walked towards the center of town where Ji-Hoon was waiting. The undead were always fun to play with.

As hundreds of undead pirates lined up around him, Ji-Hoon looked grim. Time for some serious business.

"I need to know where Kyuubi is." He chanted a spell and signaled for one of the ships in the bay that had been sunken by Kyuubi's power. The ship rose out of the waters and floated closer towards shore.

"Feel his energy. The energy that killed you. Find it. Find him!" He commanded and the undead pirates walked towards their ship to set out into the world.

* * *

Jiraiya called out from the doorsteps of the Tower. "Sakura! Hiroka! Calamity!" His voice ringing like a bell into the village. The three girls in question raced out of their respective places and rushed towards Jiraiya.

They stopped right before him and glared.

"Do you think you can call for us in a nicer tone next time?" Hiroka asked

Jiraiya grinned. "You mean you don't want to go on your first team assignment?" He smirked at the expressions on their faces.

"Pack your gear. You're protecting a Crowned Prince and his son of the Crescent Moon Kingdom as he journeys across the unnamed country. Tengoku Archangels were specifically asked for, money is no object." He glared at the girls in a serious manner. "You are now representing this village and our reputation is all that we have. We need to build a strong one so I want you to do well on this mission. Is that understood?"

The girls nodded in unison. "Yes Ero-Sennin!" Jiraiya flinched at that, but didn't bother saying anything. After all, more than half the village called him that now, simply because Naruto did.

Sakura looked troubled though and had to ask a question. "Why us?"

Jiraiya smiled and replied. "You mean why you girls and not Naruto and his squad? Well several reasons." He raised his hand and started counting off the fingers.

"One, you girls need experience too. We can't focus all our strength on three warriors. We need everyone to be strong."

"Two, your team is newly formed and you need to cement your teamwork and find your 'groove' so to speak."

"Three, as you know Naruto is undergoing Sage training. He's in a dangerous place to interrupt that right now. So he has to complete it before he can leave Tengoku again. He should be tied up for a couple months at the very least. "

"Does that satisfy your curiosity?" Jiraiya finished with a smile.

"I also think it would be good for you to have a more experienced sensei with you, so I've asked Kakashi to supervise your team for this mission."

Sakura and Calamity both smiled at that, but for different reasons. Hiroka looked incensed.

"But Senjii's and Naruto set out without a team supervisor! Why do we need one? Because we're women?" Hiroka erupted.

Jiraiya shook his head. "This mission could be very dangerous, but Kakashi will let you girls handle it. He's more of a guide and will help you with training you might need or want along the way. That, and he's going a bit stir crazy, always asking me when my next book is coming out and I need him out of here before I kill him."

Hiroka nodded then and the three girls sped off to pack for their journey.


	16. Chapter 16 : Prince

****

Chapter 16  
Prince

**Author notes:  
**OK guys, the reviews have been great and inspiring for my story! Reviews inspire me to write Thanks a lot!  
So I'm going to get interactive now, like I did with the names of heroes a few chapters back. I, the author, have a new request.

Name your villain! Conditions: No demon containers. No animal contracts. No redeemable characters. I want a few just fantastic bad guys. Check the map in my profile for a country and pick where your guy/gal of evil is from. Make your character bad. So bad, so loathsome that even bad guys think they're bad. Get creative!

* * *

_Coastal City of Bayshore, Unnamed Country_

Sakura looked at the coastal city before them, squinting against the glare of the midday sun. A cool sea breeze whipped at her short pink hair. She looked back at her teammates as they closed the gap behind her. Calamity had her large bow strapped across her back, Hiroka had her scarf billowing out behind her as if it had a life of its own. All three girls wore their white outfits, each with their own color trimmings, Sakura pink, Hiroka red, and Calamity Purple.

Kakashi though had opted to not change his clothes into the now standard white Tengoku uniform. As far as Kakashi was concerned, he was still a Konoha nin just visiting some friends.

They all paused and watched as the biggest ship they'd ever seen docked into the sea port of the idyllic village. It had taken them the better part of a week traveling south from Tengoku to meet the ship.

"OK girls." Kakashi said, going over the mission details for the hundredth time. Preparation was key on all missions, he kept drilling into their heads.

"The crown prince has decided to circle the globe with his caravan. So they have sailed east from Land of the Moon over the vast ocean to this port city. From here they intend to form a caravan that will take them across the entire world."

"We are only responsible for the first part of their journey. We must get them safely from this port city, to the border with the Wind Country. Their ninja will take over from there. Any questions?"

Hiroka replied petulantly, "Nothing has changed since the last forty-five times you're gone over this. We get it! We babysit the prince! _Tyen-ah_! _BAI-tuo, AN-jing-eedyen_!"

"I hope he's handsome." Sakura said dreamily, ignoring Hiroka's strange language that she always resorted to when upset. Her fixation on Sasuke notwithstanding, a girl was allowed to fantasize about a prince if she wanted to.

Calamity shrugged. "I doubt it. I don't go in for those fairytale stories about a handsome prince sweeping the girl off her feet. Just doesn't seem realistic when you spend your life in the badlands."

They continued their walk into the city, looking forward to meeting their first assignment, wondering what type of man the prince was.

* * *

The prince was a fat man.

Sakura looked in awe at the girth of the young man before her. He had to be in his twenties still, even if late twenties. He seemed pleasant enough upon seeing the three girls before him. He even tried to kiss Hiroka's hand, to which she attempted to punch him straight to his border destination.

Fortunately Kakashi was quicker than her punch and managed to hold her back.

The caravans were being loaded from the ship and it was taking some time so Calamity was standing by the sea's edge a little distance away from her friends. She managed to pick out the slightest whistle in the air behind her so she sidestepped to the right and snatched the arrow aimed for her head out of the air.

She pivoted and notched the arrow she had caught to her own mini crossbow and fire back instinctively. It was only as the arrow had already been fired that she realized…

...it was a toy arrow.

The boy who had fired at her got hit smack in the middle of his head, sending him toppling backwards onto the ground with a thud. Calamity rushed over to help the boy. Her mini crossbows were tuned to deliver a massive amount of force behind each arrow. Even a toy one.

The boy groaned as the suction cupped artillery stuck to his forehead quivered. Calamity lifted him to his feet and yanked the arrow off his head. He had to be less than ten years old. His eyes were glazed over, the shock of the impact still had him dazed.

"Hey are you OK kid?" Calamity asked him.

"Um…y…yes," the boy answered. "I'm OK." He shook his head to clear it.

Calamity nodded. "Good."

She slapped him behind his head sending him into the dust again. "What the hell do you think you're doing firing an arrow at me? What if I'd used a real one to defend myself? You'd be dead now you idiot!"

"What are you doing to my son!" The fat prince ran as fast as he could towards them, with his entourage in tow. Kakashi got there first though and picked the boy up and dusted him off.

"He's unharmed." Kakashi pronounced.

"Who do you think you are?! Attacking my son!" The prince exclaimed.

"He shot an arrow at me!" Calamity replied. "He's lucky he wasn't seriously hurt."

Kakashi nodded. "It is unwise to sneak attack a warrior."

The prince scoffed and walked with his son away from them, back to the caravans. The boy looked back in something akin to wonder at Calamity.

"Oh this is going to be a long journey." Kakashi muttered to himself.

* * *

_**Tengoku**_

In the newly dubbed Mad scientist wing of the white tower, an explosion rocked the very tower itself. Guerrera frowned at first, _That Yoshi keeps trying to destroy my tower! _But then his frown changed to a smug grin, _He's not so much as succeeding in putting a dent in it. That's my baby. Good girl._

Billowing green smoke emitted from the window of the lab Yoshi was working out of. The inventor's voice echoed in the morning air, "Eureka!"

A clamoring of footsteps and a few seconds later Yoshi burst through the doors of the white tower, looking around madly for either Jiraiya or Tsunade.

He found Jiraiya on his way back into the tower from checking on Naruto's training with the toads. Yoshi ran up to him, holding an oddly colored short pole in his hands.

"I've done it I've done it!" he exclaimed to the Sannin.

"What have you done Yoshi?" Jiraiya asked, watching curiously as green smoke still continued to billow out of the scientist's temporary lab.

"Remember the problem we were talking about a few weeks ago?" Yoshi asked excitedly.

"You mean the same problem you talk to me, Tsunade, Tenchi, Guerrera, anyone who will listen, and even yourself more often than not, almost three times a day about?" Jiraiya replied.

"Hm?" Yoshi looked back up from the pole he was holding in his hands, not having listened to Jiraiya's response. "Yes yes, that problem. I've figured it out! The way to keep attackers at bay!"

There was a moment's silence, a few heartbeats, as Jiraiya waited. And waited.

Exasperated, he prodded the scientist. "Well what is it?!"

"This!" Yoshi responded, holding the pole forward to show Jiraiya who looked at it with confusion.

"A rod?" Jiraiya responded.

"Yes." Yoshi affirmed.

"What is a rod going to do against our enemies?" Jiraiya asked, one of his Yoshi-headaches beginning to settle in.

"Glad you asked!" Yoshi said happily. He pulled the rod back to his left, holding it like a bat. "Hold still."

Before Jiraiya could blink the scientist swung the rod at the Sannin. Now Jiraiya wasn't world renown just for his gift for writing. He was first and foremost a mighty ninja. He could have easily dodged the rod. But he sensed no malice in Yoshi's 'attack' so he gritted his teeth and waited for the sting of the impact, but none came.

The rod passed right through his body, becoming nothing more than some form of gas and hardening back into a solid rod as it left his body. Yoshi stood there smugly and grinned, all his teeth showing.

"How did you do that? What is that?" Jiraiya asked.

"This," Yoshi explained holding the rod across both hands. "This is Heavenstone. It's made by a special calcification process using the amazing cumulus nimbus that we are perched upon precariously."

Tenchi who had walked over scratched his chin. "So you found a way to harden the special clouds?"

"Well in layman's terms I suppose yes I did. But it's so much more than that. See I discovered that every second we stay here on this island, tiny particles of the cloud seamlessly integrate into our very being. We are in essence becoming part of this place." Yoshi said.

"Fascinating," Tenchi responded. "Is it damaging us?"

"Oh no, it seems to have no effect whatsoever on us. It's harmless. But! But Heavenstone, which is what I, Yoshi have decided to call my creation, is also made up of the cloud. This substance is unbreakable, unmoldable, unstoppable, except to the cloud. It won't touch anything that's been in contact with the cloud for a sufficient period of time."

"Sooo…" Jiraiya said, thinking. "You think we can use this Heavenstone to build a barricade in the windstream?"

"Yes." Yoshi nodded. "I theorize that if I can pump enough energy into the rods, an electromagnetic field can be generated between rods of Heavenstone, thus rendering the border impassible to any object not already a resident of Tengoku." Yoshi beamed at them.

"But what about supplies, new people?" Jiraiya asked.

Yoshi looked perplexed. "Oh. New people? Um. I suppose they could sit outside the fence for a few days to get enough cloud in their pores?"

Guerrera walked over. "You had suggested a gate before didn't you Yoshi?" He looked carefully at the rod in Yoshi's gloved hand. It seemed to change color depending on the angle you looked at it.

"Yes! A gate would work magnificently. But it can't be shaped or cut. We'd need to have a mold for me to create the material in. And…" Yoshi closed his eyes and began mumbling to himself.

"…and fifty poles can be embedded around this island as the wall, once I figure out the power supply issue."

"Great job Yoshi!" Tenchi said, slapping the scientist on his back. "Will we have to deal with much more of that green smoke though when you're making it?"

Yoshi looked up at the tower as the billowing green smoke continued to pour out the window. "Oh no, that's just my tea. Would anyone like some?"

They all walked away.

* * *

_Middle of Nowhere_

Hiroka walked alongside the Caravan, watching as the wheels turned around and around. "God I wish we'd see some action, soon," she muttered to herself.

Kakashi was two steps behind her and replied in a soft tone. "We will you know."

Hiroka smiled a little at that. "I know. We're in the badlands. What is this fat prince thinking passing though here with this rich caravan?"

Kakashi shrugged. "The Land of the Moon is a very wealthy place. There are many cities just on the inside of the Wind country's borders that are considered luxury shopping centers. By coming this way around the world, he's saved many months of travel."

Hiroka sighed. "Laziness? He's endangering his son and this entire company of people out of laziness?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows how royalty thinks? All we need to be concerned about are the two scouts watching us from the forest edge to our right, and be prepared for when they attack."

Hiroka nodded, whistling up ahead at Sakura and Calamity. A harmless enough whistle that neither seemed to react to. But Sakura managed to walk directly to the side of the wagon with the prince and his son, and Calamity climbed on top, seemingly to stretch.

"You girls know what you're going to do?" Kakashi asked. He would normally have formed a plan for them to follow, but the girls had told him they already had some worked out between them. Since he was there just to advise when needed, he let them handle it. He knew he could step in at any time.

He lifted his hitai-ite off his sharingan eye and slowly looked over the forest to their left and right.

"Fifty or so," he said softly to Hiroka. "Can you manage?"

She scoffed. "Manage? I was hoping to get a real workout; this won't even break a sweat."

Kakashi smiled, lowering back the head band. "It's a long way to Wind Country, so pace yourself."

A brace of arrows flew out of the forest and arced up, then down, racing for the Caravan.

"Hiroka!" Calamity exclaimed.

Hiroka twirled once, unraveling her scarf and pushed her Chi and thought into the red material. It billowed out and shot towards the arrows. She flicked her wrists, steadying her legs into the ground in a horse position then leaping into the air. She seemed to fly, the cloth moving this way and that, trapping the arrows in its material. She twisted and turned, her feet moving as though she were running on the air itself, landing on top of a wagon directly behind the one Calamity was on. "Kakashi says fifty."

Calamity grinned at her friend's talent and palmed her big bow. She had already laid down a quiver with arrows and began pulling them out two at a time. She worked the bow like a machine. Arrows, string, fire. Arrows, string, fire. Her sharp eyes picking out shadows and movement amongst the trees of the forest, in a matter of seconds she fired twenty arrows into the woods before the first two had even hit their target.

Screams of pain told them that at least some had hit.

"How many Calam?" Sakura shouted up at her.

"Ten at best. Sorry, too many trees." Calamity replied, lowering her big bow and pulled out her mini-crossbows.

Sakura stood there, feet apart, waiting for the rush from the attackers. It came seconds later, three large hyenas with riders lurched out of the forest. Each hyena was easily three times bigger than Sakura, but she stood her ground as the gnashing teeth and claws raced for her.

"Sakura?" Calamity asked without asking.

Sakura shook her head. Time to show her friends why she belonged in this team. As the first hyena got close enough to try to bite her, she side stepped and cocked back her fist.

"_Futae no kiwami!" _she let slip out loud. Tsunade had told her not to shout her technique for the world to hear, after all, they were Ninja. But these enemies weren't going to live to tell the name of her technique.

The hyena whose head she punched exploded into blood spray and bone fragments, collapsing in front of the other two. Its rider trapped beneath the massive body. Sakura hand sprung over the body and rushed the second hyena, its jaws snapped at her face. Her momentum as she ducked backwards while running forward kept her sliding under its stomach. She quickly used a kunai to slice its body open from neck to crotch. It shrieked and fell, thrashing madly, breaking the body of the attacker riding on top of it.

The third rider swung a sword that Sakura narrowly managed to avoid. Calamity was about to pick him off as he came around to attack Sakura again but Hiroka appeared next to her and stopped her.

"Don't do it. She's proving a point." They watched as Sakura spun around and threw her kunai into the chest of the man. The hyena still came at her though.

"To who? Us?" Calamity asked as Sakura jumped up and came down with her fist into the Hyena's head.

"Us and herself I think." Hiroka replied. "Still seventeen in the forest."

"The others ran." Kakashi said from the ground. "Good teamwork girls. Way to use your strengths."

Sakura inhaled and exhaled sharply, trying to catch her breath._ Ha. If only Naruto could see her now. Or Sasuke…Can you see me Sasuke? Can you see that I'm getting strong too?_

She walked back closer to the still rolling Caravan and rejoined her friends.

* * *

_Konoha_

"Your services will be sufficiently compensated," the sleazy obese courtesan said to Danzo. Even for Danzo this part of the job disgusted him. He didn't mind the task he was being asked to do, he just hated having to deal with people like this.

"Yes it will. Tell Shabadaba that the price is two million apiece for each head. The Prince and his son." Danzo spat out at the perfumed man before him.

"King Shadababa will be most grateful if you are successful." The man smirked at Danzo. "There are some warriors from some new village in the unnamed lands protecting the caravan. The king hired them so I don't know anything about them. But I'm sure your…talented…ninjas here can handle a handful of bodyguards."

Danzo irritatedly looked at the Courtesan's escort.

"You." He directly addressed the bodyguard to the Courtesan. "Can you speak?"

The guard looked at Danzo confused. "Yes my Lord."

"Good." Danzo said, throwing a kunai into the throat of the Courtesan. He watched as the man fell the the floor, gagging on his own blood a few seconds before dying.

"Tell Shadababa my terms, and tell him if he fails to pay, that it will be his blood on my floor."

After the guard left, taking the dead body with him, Danzo summoned two of his Root advisers.

"Assassination assignment. But I don't want any Root outside of Konoha at this time, we are still rebuilding strength and solidifying my position."

"Pardon me sir, then why take the job at all?" one asked.

"Because rebuilding Konoha is going to be expensive. And Shadababa has access to more than enough money for our needs. Once he's completed his coup d'etat, we will send a small force to claim that island. I want that treasury for my own."

"…but in the meantime, I need an assassin. Suggest someone and send them out to the unnamed country. We have a map that the caravan will be following. Find them before they come under the protection of Wind. Last thing I need is another war. Not yet anyway. Wind country will face us soon enough."

The advisers nodded and left the room. "Who are you thinking of?" one asked the other.

"If we hadn't thrown the snake's apprentice into a dungeon a few days ago, I'd say her. But we need an uncomplicated success on this. Send out Asuma along with a small squad of chunnin loyal to Danzo. He was once one of the thirteen Guardians of the Fire Daimyo, so he can't be happy with the events in the Valley of Death. He has yet to make any obvious moves or objections though. I think he will do the mission grudgingly, but efficiently."

"So be it."

* * *

_Tengoku_

Ali looked with pride at the guild house. They had completed it side by side with Naruto's clones in an impossibly short space of time. The stone carving that was their clan symbol was firmly in place over the doorway. Red flags also bearing the symbol of the clan stuck out of the walls at a forty five degree upwards angle, making it seem regal.

His two fellow clan members also stood in awe of their new home. None of them had ever had anything even close to this. Either born into the clan or orphaned and adopted into the clan, their life had always been on the road.

Ali turned to his friend on the right. "We will have a ceremony. Find our brothers and tell them I want them here within the week. You know where to start looking."

"Yes Leader."

"Now where is the boy that caused all this?" Ali asked the second man. He was of course referring to the boy who had been orphaned by the clan on their raid of Naruto's caravan. Ali had not seen him for a few days.

"Azriel is running the chambers with the other students of the academy." Ali nodded, pleased at this. It was stunning to see the training that the children were being put through. It was training he had heard of in a far away land, but never seen. It would indeed give all the children strong basic martial art skills, which they could then use to go off in any direction they chose. It would be a perfect base for the _Kalarippayattu_ that Azriel would be learning.

"Has he passed the first chamber as yet?" Ali asked.

"Yes leader. He and a handful of the others in his class have started the second chamber."

After passing the first chamber, which was essentially a perfect balance exercise, the successful students had to immediately begin the second chamber, an arm and shoulder strengthening exercise, carrying buckets of water through a short narrow wooden maze. The only way through was twisting left and right, while holding the buckets above the wooden blunt spikes that they have to navigate.

It was grueling, but would give them the strength needed for upper body attacks and defenses. Ali was very impressed with the training, and had high hopes for Azriel, the first of his clan to endure it. The boy had taken to the clan grudgingly. In the outer lands the death of your family was the norm, not the exception. The boy understood the difference between the man who killed his mother, Krishna, and the rest of the clan.

Ali had already chosen which of his men would stay to teach the boy and run the guild. He looked around at the village around them. The streets were busy with villagers finishing their shops and homes. Naruto had done a miracle and given these people a home.

* * *

_Still the Middle of Nowhere_

Calamity whittled away at the sticks she had handpicked, straightening and forming them into arrow shafts. She'd find feathers tomorrow to notch them with. The sun beat down on her atop the wagon train, but this is what she liked. The traveling, the open air. Her father had moved them around a lot, looking for safer places to live. They had had to restrict their travels to the unnamed country, because of the vast desert that was the Wind country. Not many could afford the cost of a caravan that could cross that desert. They certainly couldn't.

She felt the eyes on her again, the third time that day. Glancing to her left, she saw the Prince's son peek at her over the edge of the Wagon.

"You know, you may as well come and help me, if you have nothing better to do," she said without looking at him. She heard him gasp; then could practically feel the gears in his head turning as he took a minute to think.

He sat down next to her. "How are you so good with your arrows?" he asked.

Calamity laughed. "Food."

The young heir looked confused, so she elaborated.

"Where I grew up, a lot of times it was just my dad and I. So I hunted. And if I missed, we didn't eat. Eventually I never missed. There is a part of the badlands where the vultures will swarm your prey seconds after you kill it. So you need to be able to kill them too. Speed. Accuracy. It's drilled into you by the harsh realities of life. I got good because I needed to."

The boy still didn't seem to understand. "Grandfather says one day something important will depend on me not missing."

Calamity nodded. "Your grandfather is a smart man. One day your life or someone else's could hang in the balance. And you cannot miss."

The boy stood up straight. "I never miss either, watch." He notched his toy arrow to the bow and fired at the back of one if his entourage's head. It stuck and the man exclaimed in annoyance until he saw it was the boy. He smiled and nodded.

Calamity laughed. "Good shot. But you're old enough that I think the toy should be retired. Firing real arrows is different. The weight is different, the amount of pressure in the string, the distance they can travel. You need to practice with the real deal." She finished carving the arrow she was working on and held it up. "A real archer makes her own arrows. That way you can be sure of the quality." She took out a small knife and handed it to him, then nodded towards the pile of sticks.

"Grab one and let's begin. I'll show you how to carve today, and then tomorrow we practice shooting," she said smiling, taking a liking to how interested the boy was.

"What's your name?" he asked her.

"Calamity. What's yours?" she replied.

"Hikaru."

* * *

_Tengoku_

It was night time and the field was empty. But that's what Inari wanted. No witnesses. He braced himself then ran full tilt towards the ditch filled with water and logs. He managed to step on the first log and push off again but then his next footing slipped and he fell back into the water.

He spluttered and swam back to the starting side and climbed out. Getting ready to try again. He was not officially enrolled in the school, he and his grandfather were still finishing their job. But Inari had every intention of joining the classes when they were done, and he did not want to be left behind. He had been coming out here every night for a week, trying to pass the first chamber.

He inhaled and tried again. Still not managing to get past the second step. It had taken him a few days to get even the first step, and this one was harder. He knew some of the kids had passed already, but it was just a handful, four at most. He could still catch up if he got this.

Tenchi watched from a small distance away, unbeknownst to Inari.

"How's he doing?" Tazuna asked from behind Tenchi.

"Good." Tenchi replied. "He's figuring it out. He's got the tenacity that's for sure."

Tazuna nodded in the darkness. "We're almost done, and I have to be leaving soon. I know Inari wants to stay. He wants to be close to Naruto."

Tenchi smiled. "He's not alone in that. I heard about that bridge in your homeland. The Great Naruto Bridge. I guess he's always had an effect on people."

Tazuna looked across as his grandson ended up in the water again. "Yes. He has. Inari is still young though, and his mother would miss him. We've already been gone a year."

An owl hooted from a tree nearby. Tenchi spoke quietly so that their voice wouldn't carry to Inari. "Why not bring his mother here. Or at least ask her if she'd like to come?"

"I've thought of that. I will suggest it. The choice is hers though. I've already spoke to Jiraiya. I will be back in a month. Someone has to maintain the water mains and power lines if there are any problems. If my daughter chooses to stay in Wave Country then I will need to be back and forth. If she chooses to come here, then I could just stay."

"That would make Inari happy." Tenchi said. He held his breath as he saw Inari make his second step and slip on the third. He was thinking of some way he could help with boy figure it out, but that wouldn't be fair. None of the other students were given clues, and he already considered Inari a pupil.

"Good luck on your Journey Tazuna. Inari will be safe with us. You know we have a wind stream that can take you almost to the Great Naruto bridge itself. Naruto's clones made special note of that one."

Tazuna nodded, "Yes, but I'm too old for that form of travel. I'd rather do it the old fashioned way. Leave the flying to the birds and the young." He snickered and retreated into the night.

* * *

_Konoha_

Asuma stopped at the hospital to check on Kurenai. She had been at the bedside of her students for weeks now. Recovery had been slow for Kiba and Shino.

The bug user had massive fire burns that it had taken medical teams days to repair. As it was he was still going to have a large burn scar on his chest. Many in his colony had died too, causing him further distress. His clan had been assisting with taking care of him, tending to his mental distress at such a huge loss.

Kiba had lost a lot of blood from the kunai, so had Akamaru. But they would both survive, it just took time. Hinata was unconscious for a few days but had awoken and left with nothing more than a bad headache and the shame of disappointing her father. He had however been so glad she was alive that he dismissed that claim to disgrace and smiled at her. The Hyuuga were against Danzo, albeit secretly. It was clear the death of the Royals was orchestrated and that his daughter was meant to be killed along with them. Hiashi Hyuuga was furious but reigned in his killing intent, biding his time.

Asuma spotted Kurenai in a chair, sleeping. She had never left the side of her students since they were admitted. He smiled and kissed her on her forehead without waking her. He left a rose in her lap and exited quietly.

He did not relish an assassination mission. But the sooner it was over with the sooner he would be back to take care of Kurenai and his team.

He leapt through the Konoha gates and headed west. It would take him two weeks in a straight line to intercept that caravan, and even then he would be barely a mile or two from the Wind Country border.

He had to be swift.

* * *

**Appendix A:**

**Who's Who**

My beta Joshua The Evil Guy was kind enough to summarize this for me and for you the reader to help keep things straight.

**Archangel Squads**

**Squad 01** - "Daitenshi" lit. _Archangels_ in Japanese. Tengoku's Lead Team, most powerful and experienced.

Members: Naruto Uzumaki, Shinji Makato, and Nagi Mikihara. Powerhouse team that is balanced with a close-range, close-to-mid-range, and all-range fighters, each with a unique ability that gives them phenomenal strength and power in battle.

**Squad 02** - "Tennin" or when not in a group, "Tennyo". Tennin being the plural. Tengoku's _Angels from Heaven_, the All-Girl Team, and also known as the "Celestial Beauties From Heaven" by those they come to help, and "Demon Bitches From Hell" by those that earn their wrath.

Members: Sakura Haruno, Hiroka Tenshi, and 'Calamity'. Perfectly balanced team with a close-range fighter/ninja medic, a short-to-mid-range _Kire Kengeki_ user, and a long-range weapons expert and sharpshooter.

**Squad 03** - "Furuitenshi" or '_Ancient Spirits_'. Members: Jiraiya, Tsunade Senju, Hatake Kakashi, Tenshi Shiratori, Guerrerra, Milford Mabry, and Ali of the Spirit Wolf Clan. Defenders of Tengoku, only called together to defend their home from attack, or if the shit really hits the fan and the first two squads need to be rescued.

**Noteable Students (may contain some minor spoilers):**

Mirrun: _Her eyes freeze time around her, allowing her to move at what seems inhuman speeds._

Gennosuke: _Uses Chakra blasts to 'see' and has high levels of agility._

Syrren: _Ability to become water and move as such_

Junya and Fuki: _Doubutso Souzou. Kazumo clan, ability to create animals from objects._

Inari: _Archer_

Azriel: _Member of the Spirit Wolf Clan, master thieves and Kalarippayattu practitioners._

**Notable Enemies…so far:**

**Ji-Hoon:** _Half Demon currently hunting the Kyuubi, formerly master of the street orphans Mirrun, Gennosuke and Syrren._

**The Undead Pirates**: _Set looking for Kyuubi by Ji-Hoon. These are the corpses of the Pirates killed by Naruto in his destruction of Carachi coastal city._

**Danzo**: _Self-declared Conquering Lord of Rock and Leaf._


	17. Chapter 17 : Demon Bitches

**Chapter 17**

**Demon Bitches**

Senjii strolled down the main street, marveling at how the village looked. Just a few short months ago, they had been sitting around a campfire planning what materials they needed. Now they had citizens, and stores and homes and the glistening white tower in the center of the village.

He smiled happily, Naruto's dream had come true. He knew off in the small forest behind the tower that Naruto was training with the toads, but Nagi was somewhere in town and Senjii needed someone to spar with.

A small boy ran across his path laughing as another boy in a mask chased him. Senjii smiled, but then a memory came back, startling him. The memory of the demons in the alleyway they had faced months ago came flooding back like a nightmare and he stopped dead in his tracks. The parting words of that demon Ji-Hoon crossed his mind.

Senjii turned on his heels and went looking for Mabry.

* * *

Mabry was in the supply warehouse taking inventory, a job he hated. He scowled but did it grudgingly, checking to see what items he needed to order.

Senjii knocked on the door, "Hey Mabry, busy?"

Mabry just grunted at him.

With a smile, Senjii walked in. "I need to talk to you about something. Remember that demon Ji-Hoon?"

Mabry stopped what he was doing and looked up. "Yes. Why?"

"Well do you also remember his promise to be back? And do you also remember the toothpick you gave me to defend myself with last time?" Senjii asked

Mabry smiled. "Yes, I remember those things, what do you want Senjii?"

"Well just one thing. It's likely that on another mission we will run into him or his monster squad again. I will NOT face them with a butter knife in my hands. I want a real weapon." Senjii said resolutely.

Mabry nodded. "OK, well then you want either the Kusanagi which I believe is owned by a fairly horrible ninja called Orochimaru, heard of him?"

"Ah, yes. Naruto has spoken of him, and I've heard of him before."

"Good, you won't be getting that one anytime soon. But there are a few swords out there that might suit your purpose. The world is a big place you know. I think…yes…the best place for you to start is with the names _Gan Jiang_ and _Mo Ye_, and to talk to our resident den of thieves." Mabry said, going back to his work.

Senjii left excitedly to hunt down Ali.

* * *

Nagi scowled and bit into the piece of straw in between his teeth. He watched the classes going on across the field, seeing the two groups of children. Those who had made it to the second chamber – and they were few – and those still figuring out the balance that was required to pass the first chamber.

He glanced across in the other direction and saw Senjii walking over.

"Hey Nagi, what you planning to do today?" Senjii asked.

Nagi grinned back, "Something fun I hope."

Senjii and Nagi found Ali in his Guild house preparing for their ceremony later that week. Most of the clan had arrived although some were out getting items they needed. The place was looking fantastic Senjii thought, nudging Nagi to look at the carving that Guerrera had done and was now over the entrance.

"Hey Ali, can I ask you something?" Senjii said walking closer. Ali looked up annoyed at the interruption in the planning. He was enjoying himself in something frivolous for the first time in his life, and his men were fully into it too.

"Just a minute Senjii." Ali looked over at one of his men. "Suresh, what about the balloons? Did you get the red ones?"

The man frowned. "Leader, no disrespect, but is red really the way we want to go? It would really clash with the green tapestry. I was thinking a golden color."

Ali slammed his fist into his desk. "I said Red! Every time we rob a noble's house or crash a party, the rich always have red balloons. Are we not deserving of red balloons, in this our new home? Do you, Suresh, think the Spirit Wolf Clan is not worthy of red balloons?"

Senjii and Nagi watched humorously at the exchange. Ali sure was taking this seriously.

"Now, what did you guys want?" Ali said, turning his attention back to them as Suresh sulked off indignantly, whispering foreign words to Nagi and Senjii, although Nagi was sure he heard the word _prima donna_ in there somewhere.

"Have you ever heard of the names _Gan Jiang_ and _Mo Ye?" _Senjii asked.

Ali's eyes flashed and a grin spread across his face. "The legendary twin swords? Of course I know the story."

Nagi looked puzzled, "I've never heard of them."

"That's because you are not a weapon user." Ali replied. "Any swordsman worthy of the name knows of the Gan Jiang and Mo Ye swords. Centuries ago, in a time and land long forgotten, a swordsmith couple was asked by their King to forge a pair of swords for him. These smiths were artists in their work; their names were Gan Jiang and Mo Ye. It is said that they used human energy, Qi, to power their blast furnace to melt the steel but it was insufficient for the swords they desired to make. Mo Ye sacrificed herself to increase human Qi by throwing herself into the furnace. The desired result was achieved after three years and the two swords were named after the couple. Gan Jiang kept the Gan jiang Sword for himself and presented the Mo Ye Sword to the king. The king was angered when he discovered the truth and he had Gan Jiang killed. Their son Chi was eager to avenge his father and he sought the Gan Jiang Sword. At the same time, the king dreamt about a youth wanting to kill him and he placed a bounty on the youth's head. Chi was indignant and so filled with anguish that he started crying during his quest for revenge. Chi met an assassin and he told the assassin his story before committing suicide. The assassin was moved and decided to help Chi fulfill his quest. The assassin brought Chi's severed head and the Gan Jiang Sword to meet the king, who was overjoyed. The assassin asked the king to have Chi's head boiled and he told the king that he needed to take a closer look in order for the head to decompose faster. The king heeded the assassin's words and the assassin seized the opportunity to decapitate the king and throw his head into the boiling water. The assassin then committed suicide by self-beheading and his head fell into the boiling water too. The heads were burnt until the features were no longer recognizable, and they were buried together. The grave was called "Tomb of Three Kings". The swords were buried along with them."

Nagi looked wide eyed at conclusion of Ali's story. "So what's so special about these swords then? Because they're made from Qi?"

Senjii shook his head. "Not just that. The lives sacrificed for the blades have made them instruments of death themselves. It is said that if the wielder of the swords came upon the Creator of the World on his journey, even He would be cut."

"Ohhh." Nagi finally understood. "You want them in case we have to fight that Ji-Hoon guy again."

Senjii grinned and looked back at Ali. "So any clues on where the Tomb of Three Kings is?"

Ali scowled and pointed down the corridor. "First room on the left is where we're storing all the scrolls that we've…accumulated…over the years. There are many. I think I did read one that contained an old map of the old lands. It is somewhere to start." He squinted his eyes. "However, don't think I'm helping you _just _because we live in the same village."

Senjii looked at Ali intently. "Fifty percent."

Ali nodded. "Done. And I will send two of my clan as well."

Senji agreed and walked down the corridor with Nagi close behind.

"Fifty percent of what?" Nagi asked curiously.

"The King was said to be one of the richest in History. If we find that Tomb, there will be a lot of gold." Senjii said, opening the door to find a room piled high with scrolls and parchments.

Nagi looked at the stack before them and sighed. "This is NOT the fun day I had pictured."

* * *

_Middle of Nowhere_

Kakashi looked up at the cloudy sky. A thunderous crack and a gust of cold wind blew at his face. Something felt…off. He looked back, the convoy was rolling on. It had been an uneventful week of traveling since the bandit raid. According to his estimate, they had another two weeks before they hit the border of Wind Country.

Hiroka and Sakura flanked either side of the Prince's coach. Calamity had taken to spending time with the Prince's son, teaching him how to make and shoot real arrows. Kakashi thought her to be a good teacher, the boy had excellent aim. But today, she sat on top the wagon directly behind the Prince's coach. This gave her a better vantage point on any attacks on the convoy.

Kakashi himself had on a coat with a hood to shield himself from the rain, also to not give away that he was a ninja protecting the caravan. This way he looked like a normal guard, just slightly ahead and to the left of the wagons.

The rain started to fall, whipping at them in blinding sheets. Kakashi knew it was coming, because it was when he would have attacked. Three figures burst from the tree line and raced towards the Prince's wagon.

Arrows zipped at them, Calamity firing rapid fire at them. Shockingly none hit, the attackers dodging, ducking and weaving and never missing a step towards the caravan. Kakashi instantly recognized that they were Ninja from their movements, not just ordinary bandits. This was no robbery, this was an assassination attempt.

* * *

Asuma swore violently. The three chunnin Danzo had assigned to him had been a pain in the ass for the entire trip. Their unswerving loyalty to Danzo had made conversations near impossible. He had kept to himself for the entire trip, sleeping apart when they stopped to rest at night. They had gone ahead without him, wanting the glory of killing the prince for themselves in order to impress Danzo.

He had caught up to them just as they left the trees. He saw the wagons, the archer on top, and a female warrior on the side closest to the attack. There was probably one on the far side as well. From the side of his eyes, he saw a figure start to move to intercept the chunnin. He glanced at him through the rain, not making out much, but his senses told him it was a formidable opponent. As much as Asuma hated Danzo, this was a job that Konoha had accepted. He unsheathed his chakra blades and leapt into the rain.

* * *

Kakashi saw a fourth shadow leap from the forest, this one heading to cut off his own interception of the three ninja. He stopped in his tracks and focused on this enemy, having a feeling that this one was the most powerful. He had to trust the girls to handle the three ninja.

He formed a few quick seals, and used the massive rain sheets to form a water dragon, sending it after the newest attacker. To his credit the ninja dodged it well, and sliced the dragon's head off with his blades, killing the jutsu.

The ninja rushed towards Kakashi who palmed his kunai and move to meet the ninja.

* * *

Hiroka saw that Calamity's arrows were not finding their target and took her defensive stance. These were ninja, not bandits, so she'd be hard pressed. She felt a thud in the ground and realized Sakura had landed next to her having jumped over the wagon.

Another thump and Calamity landed on top the wagon, notching more arrows to her bow.

"OK girls, let's kill these guys!" Calamity shouted over the rain.

A bolt of lightning struck the ground not far and that was the cue for Sakura and Hiroka to lunge forward. Calamity exhaled and fired five arrows off her bow at once, hand working the string in a blur, firing off another five a second later.

The ninja blocked the first volley, but the second managed to catch one in the thigh as he leapt out of the way. At the closer ranger, the arrows were going impossibly fast, almost too fast to dodge. The ninja who was hit fell to one knee and swore violently. One of the unharmed ninja made a hand sign and sent a fireball racing towards the wagon and Calamity.

Hiroka twisted and turned her cloth, catching the fireball in the folds of cloth, she spun and twirled in mid air, and using her chakra enhanced cloth as a slingshot fired the same fireball back towards the ninja, the rain sizzling as it cut a path of steam through the torrent. He made another hand sign and swapped places with a block of wood.

The second unharmed ninja came at Sakura with a pair of batons. He turned and twisted, swinging the two metal pipes at her head and ribs. She had forward momentum as she was running towards him so she just slid to her knees and leaned backwards, sliding under his swings. She raised herself to one knee as he came around again ready to swing. She threw a punch, her Futae no Kiwami hitting him a glancing blow, but still enough to make him drop one of the batons and spin around.

He went with the spin and hit Sakura across her ribs with his baton. She let out a yell of pain and clutched her side, both of them leaping backwards to get ready for another attack.

Calamity swore violently. The one ninja she had hit was back up having pulled the arrow out of his leg. She saw Hiroka and Sakura engage their enemy but she had no time to worry about them. She dropped the large bow and pulled out her twin small crossbows. She had built them herself a long time ago, designed to automatically load up to fifty bolts each, it was her favorite weapon for closer range, rapid fire. She aimed at the ninja and fired, the first bolt sailing through the air as the next clicked into place.

The ninja swapped out with a wooden log and came rushing back towards the wagons from a slightly different angle. Calamity swiveled in his direction and fired again, another five shots each. The ninja ducked under them and kept coming.

Calamity looked at the direction he was attacking from and smiled. Fate seemed to be on her side, the wind was blowing from behind her, towards him with a lot of force. A quick glance around and she saw what she was looking for. A small jug of wine the wagon driver seemed to be using frequently; she had seen him drinking from it the day before and stash it above the canopy.

She holstered one of her mini crossbows and loaded the second, lighting the arrowhead and praying the rain didn't douse it before it did its job. She kicked the jug towards the attacking ninja and shot it with the bolt as it got close, shattering the clay receptacle. Its liquid contents splashed out, the wind blowing it towards the attacking ninja, the fire bolt catching the alcohol and turning it into a sheet of fire that in a blink of an eye engulfed the Ninja. He screamed as the flaming contents burned his face and he swiped at it with his hands to douse it.

He never got the chance.

Calamity fired five more crossbow bolts into his chest while he was distracted, silencing his screams. She turned to see how her friends were doing, hearing the screams of battle over the pounding rain.

Hiroka swirled in midair, barely dodging a brace of Shuriken. Her opponent was very skilled in the use of Fire jutsu and shuriken throwing, and he had a nasty habit of combining the two in attacks. Her special scarf was resistant to flame attacks, but even so, it was starting to smell a bit singed. The rain also made it harder for her to manipulate it as it was becoming waterlogged.

She landed in the mud, almost losing her footing. The ninja smirked and sent another fireball at her, quickly also sending three shuriken flying behind the fireball as a secondary attack.

Hiroka was having quite enough of this. She planted her feet down firm and remembered a lesson her father had taught her when she was very little. One of the most basic tactics anyone ever learned. The strongest defense is a good offense.

She twirled the cloth into a tight spin and funneled it to catch the fireball in a wide net. The ninja did not see when she let go the cloth and dove under the fireball and shuriken and got within two feet of him. He barely had time to register as she stood in a stance and began going through a series of finger punches and palm thrusts against his chest.

He did feel it though when his heart exploded in his chest.

As he fell to the ground, a panting Hiroka noticed for the first time the headband this ninja was wearing. Uttering a sharp curse, she glanced towards Sakura.

The baton wielder swung for Sakura's head with enough force to separate it from her shoulders. She ducked instead of blocking. She had made the mistake of blocking one of his attacks and had what she was sure was a broken left forearm to show for it. She kept her distance though, watching for an opening. They both had one useless arm now, and the fight was getting desperate.

The ninja lunged forward, using the baton like a spear. Sakura ducked and tried a punch. He twirled the baton around his forearm and pushed her punch down with the tip. She stepped in, trying to swipe at his feet with her front leg. He raised the leg and kicked out, trying to break her knee. She bent to the left, avoiding the kick, and coming around with her back foot in a tornado kick to his midsection that connected solidly.

He stumbled backwards and that was all the opening Sakura needed. She rushed forward. He swung the baton at her midsection, aiming for the damaged ribs. She sacrificed her broken left forearm again and felt the sharp mind numbing pain as he hit her already broken bones, but it was not enough to stop her. Her fist aimed directly at his face, her eyes finally registered the symbol on his forehead protector. A Leaf! Konoha! It was too late though and her fist connected with all the force she could muster. His head exploded in shards of bone and brain matter, his body freezing for a second then collapsing in the mud.

"A Leaf! Konoha!" Sakura cried out, falling to her knees, Hiroka and Calamity rushing to her side.

* * *

Kakashi locked blades with the ninja for the barest of seconds before recognizing the weapons in the man's hands and immediately did a _kawarimi_ with a log. Asuma's chakra blades cut right though the Kunai Kakashi was wielding a split second earlier as if it was butter.

"Asuma!" Kakashi shouted, throwing off his raincoat. He stood a short distance away and watched as the Konoha nin turned around and lowered his blades.

"Kakashi?" he said incredulously. "What the hell are you doing here?"

* * *

_Tengoku_

Naruto stretched as he exited the tower. He'd been sitting as still as possible for the past few weeks, and the toads said he had made enough progress that he could take a break. He could feel the Natural Energy enough to not let it turn him into a frog and his body into stone. That was a prospect he was NOT interested in. So Naruto had to decide what to do on his day off. He looked around, and the place seemed…busy!

The streets were bustling with people and a few of his clones here and there. Shops were open, people were walking and laughing, children were playing in the streets. He heard strong laughter coming from a noodle stand as members of their resident guild of thieves talked about their ceremony later that night.

Naruto grinned. Everyone seemed really…happy. He walked down by the schoolyard and saw Guerrera teaching a class. He waved and saw the man smile. Naruto wondered what his face looked like under that mask.

He glanced over at the training field and saw that a few students were still trying to cross the first chamber. Naruto walked over upon seeing a familiar face in the last few.

"Hey Inari." Naruto called out. "What you doing?"

"He's joining the class Naruto. Do not disturb him. He needs to realize he's over thinking his steps and just let it flow." Tenchi said from Naruto's left. "He enrolled a few days ago."

Naruto saw Inari make two successful steps on the logs then slip and fall in. He frowned thoughtfully, wondering how he could help. Inari climbed out soaking wet and joined the back of the line. Naruto smiled, he knew how he could help.

"Hey Inari! Aren't you from Wave Country? Don't they have water where you're from? You look silly!" Naruto said laughing.

Tenchi scowled and moved to say something but was cut off.

"Oh yeah! Baka! I'll show you!" Inari shouted back and took to the water like a jet, anger fueling his legs as he ran from log to log and landed safely on the other side. He stood there a moment, shocked at his success, realizing what he was doing wrong.

Naruto laughed. "Good job little brother! Now get going to the second chamber!" He said with a big grin and a thumbs up. Inari laughed and walked over to the second chamber to the cheers of his new classmates.

Naruto nodded at a smiling Tenchi and headed down to where he knew Yoshi was installing the new gates. He had insisted no one else could help him, not even Naruto's clones. A wrong touch would spoil the Heavenstone material until its set in place.

On his way he spotted the Spirit Wolf Guild, decked out elaborately in ribbons, flags and lights. All in preparation for tonight. He could smell the feast that was being cooked, and yearned to go inside to sneak a bite. But he wasn't sure he could steal from a master thief without being noticed. He'd try later after he talked to Yoshi, he promised himself with a grin.

Naruto found Yoshi using a weird system of huge levers, cables, ropes and wheels to lower the left side of the elaborate gate into place. Yoshi was holding ropes with both hands, and one foot. Huge magnifying glasses on his head, tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as he pulled and pushed, lowering the gate into place. As it snapped into position, the material of the gate shimmered and let loose a hum.

Yoshi released the ropes and panted. "Whew! Finally! One down! Hey Naruto. Did you hear that? That hum? I call that Heavenstone Harmonics. It happens when a lot of my heavenstone touches the clouds."

Naruto was fascinated. "Why does it do that?"

Yoshi was gathering up his ropes and attaching them to the gate. "Huh? Oh... No idea." He replied without even looking up. "Have you seen my Felangie? Size three quarters of a millimeter? I'm missing that from my kit."

Naruto shook his head. He marveled at the ornate gate. Guerrera had designed a beautiful mold that Yoshi had used to cast the Heavenstone gates. It was beautiful, and shimmered in the sunlight. It's odd material reflecting and refracting light creating almost a rainbow effect.

"Yoshi," Naruto asked. "You are coming to the Guild feast tonight right?"

Yoshi nodded. "Yes yes. Societal interactions are important in order to maintain good working relationships with citizenry."

Naruto cocked his head quizzically. "What?"

Yoshi straightened up. "You think I should put a doorbell?"

"What?" Naruto replied.

"In case someone comes calling and no one's near the gate. How would we know they're here? Maybe a nice doorbell?" Yoshi asked.

Naruto thought about is for a few seconds. "I suppose a bell would be OK."

Yoshi looked at Naruto. "That's a great idea! A bell! How on earth did you think of that? It makes sense you know, just in case someone comes." He went back to attaching his ropes and cables to the other side of the gate.

Naruto looked at him for a few seconds and then laughed. "Yoshi, I'm real glad you crashed into our tower. See you later!" he walked back to the Spirit Wolf Guild, waving to the inventor who smiled back happily.

* * *

Senjii and Nagi sat at a table in the scroll room looking over a scroll. Ali had come in to talk to them about what they had found.

"Yes. This is the old language. This is the map of the old country." Ali confirmed.

Nagi nodded. He pulled out a journal they had found and read a passage. _"…and we came across a stone tablet with three skulls engraved on it. Upon the heads of the skulls were gold adorned crowns. My men took __then__ pried the gold from the stone, the jewels would be traded for food at the nearest outpost. But we're a week's ride east still from Abydos."_

Nagi looked up. "From other scrolls that we have found, that symbol has to be the Tomb of the Three Kings. And we have a general idea."

Senjii pointed at the Map. "There, what does this say Ali?"

Ali smiled. "That says Abydos. You've found the location of the lost city of Abydos. You do realize though where this is in current time's right?"

Senjii nodded. He pulled out another map, a current one of the world and laid it over the older scroll.

"We don't have a choice. This is where we need to start looking," Senjii said with a smile.

Nagi cleared his throat. "Guys, listen to this." He continued reading from the old journal. _"..My men are dying one by one. Something comes for them at night. Rumors of a curse are all over the encampment. Our horses are all dead with no explanation. Their bodies are turning a sickly green color. I am not sure what to do. I hope we make it to Abydos."_

Nagi looked up. "What do you think about that?"

Senjii smiled. "I think it makes it a bit more exciting. What about you?"

Nagi and Ali laughed. "Agreed," they said in unison.

"Think Naruto would come?" Senjii asked.

"Cumf werr?" Naruto's head peeked into the room, his mouth stuffed with an éclair.

Ali looked at him and his face lost its smile. "Is that one of our desserts in your mouth for our celebration feast later Naruto?"

Naruto gulped and disappeared around the corner, Ali ran out the door after him. "You will give that back immediately! I have a very specific head count to desert ratio!" He said, screaming after him down the hallways of the Guild and out into the front yard.

Nagi smirked. "Yeah Naruto would come if he could. We'll ask Jiraiya if it's OK tomorrow. Tonight though, we feast! Tomorrow we head for the city of Sunagakure!"

* * *

Tsunade sighed in relief as a young girl successfully identified all the organs in a toad. She was starting with a small class, some older citizens and young children. Less than ten. But still, it was a start to her medical trainees.

They all stared at the dissected frogs in front of them a little squeamishly. Tsunade frowned at that. _I need to break them of their sensitive stomachs. Medicine is no place for that foolishness._

This basic biology lesson was going well. These students had if not an aptitude, at least a willingness to learn, and **that** Tsunade could work with.

She saw Naruto walk past her hospital happily, popping chocolate éclairs into his mouth. She smiled sadly. No one had told him as yet what had happened in Konoha. He didn't know about the war with Iwagakure and the state of affairs back home. She wondered idly for a second if it would bother him, but she shook that thought away. Naruto cared for his friends, and many of his friends still lived in Konoha. He would be worried. But they had specific instructions from Ma and Pa toad not to disrupt his focus while he was training.

She heard a sound like a clear crystal bell ring through the village and an arc of light that spread through the streets. It was gone in a second, followed by a shout of "Eureka!"

The villagers who had looked concerned a second earlier just smiled and went back about their day. Tsunade scoffed and turned back to her class.

* * *

_Middle of Nowhere_

Asuma sat around the campfire with Kakashi, Sakura and the two girls that Sakura introduced as her teammates. The two girls watched him suspiciously, which he supposed he would do in their position. They did indeed seem to be a formidable team, dispatching the three chunnin that had accompanied him on this disastrous mission.

He continued his story. "…So I woke up and discovered they had left without me. I caught up to them just as they attacked. We made fast time getting here in a couple weeks, full speed, very little rest. We had to intercept you before you reached the Wind Country border or our mission would stand little chance for success."

Kakashi nodded. "It makes sense. So Danzo has declared himself a Conquering Emperor?"

Asumo nodded and sipped his tea. "Yes. Ninja loyal to him have been growing. He's recruiting power hungry nin from within the Iwagakure ranks as well. He's definitely building back his army, but it would probably be another year or two before he's at full strength. We lost a lot of ninja in that battle."

Sakura wanted to cry, scream, and yell. She was both angry and saddened by what had happened to her home in just one year's time.

"When you left, you just told us you were goin…" Asuma began, but Kakashi cut him off.

"Now's not the time to speak of such things. What do you think you will do now?" Kakashi asked. The girls noticed the odd exchange but said nothing.

Asuma shrugged. "Well the mission failed. The prince will enter Wind Country in a few days so there is no more chance for an 'easy' assassination. From Wind they go to Lightning, then I understand that he intends to hire Konoha as his bodyguards on the last leg of his trip. But that will be a few months from now, and the political climate may have changed. Danzo may not want to kill him or may even accept the pay to protect him then kill him. There is nothing we can do about that."

"No way." Sakura shook her head. "We won't allow it."

Calamity nodded as well. "We'll just have to protect them from Konoha until they reach their home. We'd never allow Danzo to kill the Prince or his son."

"I'm very happy to hear you say that." The Prince walked over, his girth swaying a little from side to side. "If what you say is true, and your Hokage was hired by a courtesan from my land, then we need to get home sooner rather than later. My father would know what to do about it. I am sorry to say this, but it would be best if once we enter Wind Country we head for the nearest Port and sail home. I will pay you to continue as our bodyguards until we reach home."

Hiroka looked at him intently. "You do realize that if your own people hired someone to kill you, then something bad might be waiting for you back home?"

"Nonsense!" The Prince said dismissively. "My father, the King, would never allow it. We will make the sailing arrangements. This has been a horrible trip. We didn't get to do any shopping at all. But I won't endanger my son with these assassination attempts." He turned to go. "You know, my servants are whispering your names now girls. They saw your fight today. They are calling you both _Celestial Beauties from Heaven_ and _Demon Bitches from __Hell_. You were indeed frightful."

He walked back to the main encampment where his son stood waiting.

Calamity laughed. "Well the boys can call themselves Archangels all they like, we're the Demon Bitches! Hahahaha!" Hiroka too laughed. Sakura looked dismayed.

"But but! They also called us Celestial Beauties? Can't we stick with that?" Sakura asked plaintively.

"No!" Hiroka responded happily. "This will strike more fear in people. It's fantastic!"

Kakashi sighed and smiled beneath his mask. Calamity grinned at him and winked, causing him to blush for the briefest of seconds.

Asuma sipped his tea, pondering his situation. "I have…commitments in Konoha. I agree that this village you speak of sounds wonderful Kakashi. But Konoha is my home as much as it is yours. I must go back."

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. I understand. It is likely that Danzo will punish you."

Asuma scoffed. "A few months in the jails will be pretty restful." He looked up at Kakashi over his tea who gave him the slightest of nods. Asuma looked back down at his tea.

"You girls are strong. I didn't see the fight but I saw the results. You are a good team." Asuma said quietly.

Hiroka, Sakura, and Calamity all smiled.

"Sensei," Sakura asked. "Would you tell Ino that I'm alright?"

Asuma nodded and put his tea down. "I will. Now tell me more about this village of yours. I won't leave until morning and I'd like to know all about it."

* * *

_Tengoku_

Fireworks lit up the night sky over Tengoku. The crowd clapped appreciatively and cheered as more roared into the night, bursting into explosions of color. A trio of Ali's thieves were drumming away, one with small hand symbols, one with his hands on a large drum around his neck, the other with two sticks on a smaller drum around his neck. The beat was intoxicating and exciting.

Confetti and streamers flew everywhere. Music filled the street outside the Thieves Guild. Ali was decked out in an elaborate suit that had as many ornate jewels on it as any rich merchant could dream of. (It was in fact stolen from one such merchant).

Naruto wore his white suit for the occasion on the insistence of Tenchi and Tsunade. Citizens smiled at him and shook his hand, thanking him profusely for their new lives and happiness. Naruto was bewildered as to what to do about all the gratitude and attention.

Ali cleared his throat. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Brothers and Sisters!" The crowd quieted down as Ali stood on a small stage he had erected next to the entryway of his Guild House.

"Tonight we mark the opening of our new home! As is the custom of my people, all neighbors must be welcomed into the home as if they are family. From tonight onwards, you are my family. You are OUR family. The Brotherhood of the Spirit Wolf recognizes the people of Tengoku as our brothers and sisters."

The crowd cheered and spurned him on. Ali was grinning at the reception from the citizens. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought his clan would be this accepted.

"We welcome you into our home! In the name of Kali the Warrior Goddess, our Patron and our Guide, come inside! Share our food and wine! Welcome to the House of the Brotherhood!" He bellowed, with fireworks timed to go off exactly as he finished the speech. They went off with a bang, showering red sparks on the crowd. Ali smiled widely

"Thank goodness they fired those in time," Mabry said to Tenchi. "I hear he threatened death to any Clan Member who mistimed their cue or failed in their assignment."

Tenchi laughed and joined the surge as the crowd entered the building, heading for the banquet tables on the back lawn.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I gotta say a HUGE thanks to my Beta who is juggling his job and beta-ing for me! Props to Evil Joshua!

I got some GREAT bad guys from my last request. I will be using them in the coming chapters and arcs. Some will be changed slightly. All credit will be given when used. Lots of creativity and thought went into them!

I really appreciate all the reviews. It's heartening to know that when you write, SOMEONE has read it and liked it enough to say.

I also appreciate the one or two negative reviews as well. We'd not improve if no one criticised. Thanks one and all!


	18. Chapter 18 : The Burning Sands

**Chapter 18**

**The Burning Sands**

_Tengoku_

"Hey Naruto!" Nagi shouted across the hall. "How many bottles of water to pack?" he eyed his duffel bag and contemplated shoving another few bottles in the lumpy looking pack. Ten more maybe…

"What?" Naruto shouted back from his room. "Just the one canteen should be enough?"

"What?" Senjii shouted across from his room, poking his head outside. The boys had all chosen rooms on the same floor, same corridor. "Guys just bring enough to not slow you down. Honestly haven't either of you been to the desert before?"

"I crossed that same desert more than a year ago!" Naruto chimed back in, adjusting the jacket on his white ninja 'suit'. Despite the heat they expected, Jiraiya had told them to dress properly. The heat wouldn't kill you, but the sand might, and the nights were bitter cold. Naruto chose to wear a lighter material shirt all the same. The jacket would come off easily enough if he got too hot.

"Yeah well, not all of us have an auto-regenerating body." Senjii said as he shuffled into the hallway. He too had his Jacket slung over his shoulder.

Jiraiya came up the stairs and looked at them with a wry grin.

"I wish I could come with you. It sounds like a lot of fun. But Mabry and I need to head down to one of our suppliers." He nodded his head at the map of the world that was framed in the hallway. "You know which wind stream will take you there?"

Naruto nodded, stepping out into the hall. "I've got a stream that will take us to within a mile of Suna. Then we'll need to walk." Naruto frowned. "I really wish there was an easier way to come back. It would take a month just to come back home from there."

Jiraiya shrugged. "We know there are streams that come back, we just don't know where they originate. Or how to find them at all. You finding the entrance stream was pure luck in the first place."

"Livingston. He found the stream." Naruto sighed. "Maybe we'll get lucky and find one."

"Let's go guys!" Nagi declared as he stepped out of his room, two duffel bags oddly shaped because of all the bottles of water in them strapped to his back.

Naruto and Senjii laughed only to earn them a dark scowl from Nagi. The three friends walked out, meeting up with two members of the Spirit Wolf Clan and heading for the wind river that would take them to Suna.

* * *

_Border of Wind Country_

The girls saw the contingent of Sand Ninja from Sunagakure waiting by the edge of the trail. The grassy plain they were on was getting more sparse with every mile they put behind them. Sakura saw what looked like a shimmering lake in the distance, but she knew it was just an illusion caused by an endless sea of sand.

The Sand nin were only three in number, standing there just watching the wagons roll up to them. When they got close enough Sakura realized that she recognized one of the Ninja. If she remembered correctly his name was Baki, and he was the Jounin assigned to Gaara and his siblings.

Kakashi had also recognized him and had walked up to him. Baki, startled, recognized Kakashi instantly.

He grimaced. "Kakashi. You are still alive."

Kakashi nodded looking around. "So it would seem. And I think I will keep it that way for a while yet." He looked squarely at Baki. "Was it necessary to bring this many Nin?"

Sakura looked at the two of them puzzled. The area was empty except for Kakashi, Baki and two more Sand nin.

Baki nodded. "The Prince is a very important person. His herald told us of the attacks and the assassination attempt. If he were to die while in the custody of Sunagakure, it would bring shame to our village and our Kazekage."

Baki made a hand signal and a hundred Sand nin burst from under the dunes. In a flash they were arranged in flanking positions on either side of the caravan.

The prince leaned out of his wagon, not bothering to step outside. "Are the preparations being made?" he asked Baki.

The Sand jounin nodded. "The ship will be waiting at the dock in Ayabayure in two weeks. It will take us one week to get to Sunagakure, where your majesty will be hosted by the Kazekage for two days. Then we will escort you to the Port city of Ayabayure and your ships."

Kakashi cocked his head. "We will be along for the ride. We will be escorting them while on the ships and until the Prince is safely home."

Baki looked intently at Kakashi but said nothing. He turned on his heel and as if on cue, the Caravan lurched forward, the Sand nin on either side.

* * *

_Konoha_

Asuma could taste the blood in his mouth. He turned his head sideways and spit it to the ground. He looked through the sweat and blood dripping into his eyes at the two ninja standing in front of him. His body sagged against the ropes that bound him to the post in the middle of the village square. He could hear the sobbing coming from his right. He knew it would be Ino without even looking, but refused to look at her. He would show no fear, facing this punishment. He could sense Kurenei in the crowd as well, and hoped that someone would stop her from doing anything rash.

Danzo's voice boomed down at him again. "Warriors of Konoha! This is what happens to failures. Better he died with his team than to come back in shame and disgrace!" He nodded to the two ninja in front Asuma again and they began another round of beatings. Fists and kicks to his face and torso, while he was tied and unable to defend himself. It was a public torture.

Asuma could see the logic in it. Danzo was using him to make an example. To set fear in the hearts of would be rebels. Also as Asuma was the son of the previous Hokage, it cemented the change even clearer for those that had any lingering doubts as to who ran things now.

Part of Asuma wanted to swear at Danzo, to tell him what he thought of the fascist. But that would sign his death warrant, and Asuma had a lot to live for. Also, he was sure Danzo was hoping for just that, and he wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

After a few more minutes, Asuma felt the world go black.

Shikamaru stared at the scene in front of him, his face impassive, his mind working a million miles a minute. To show any emotion would signal to Danzo where his loyalties lie. For some reason he had a feeling that Danzo was always watching.

He calculated that Danzo would beat Asuma into a pulp, but there was also a perhaps fifty percent chance that he would decide to kill him on the spot. Shikamaru was looking at the beating of his sensei, but he was also watching Danzo for any sign of what he was going to do. Shikamaru was planning for that contingency and planning fast.

His attention snapped back to Asuma when a final blow to his head knocked him unconscious. He saw the two Root Ninja look back up at Danzo for directions on what to do next. Shikamaru saw Danzo nod to the ninja with an evil satisfied grin, and suddenly Shikamaru knew where this was going.

They were going to kill Asuma.

Shikamaru brought his hands together and made his handseals quickly. It was time to see if his hastily constructed plan would work. This would have to be flawless.

Directly ahead of him was a Root ninja. Shikamaru had seen him before, he was an explosives expert. Shikamaru's shadow grabbed his in the thick crowd, unseen. The Root ninja didn't have time to react before he found his hands flash down to his waist and launch a series of explosive balls and tags at both Danzo and the two Root ninja by Asuma.

Shikamaru tried to keep his movements as small as possible so as to not give away what he was doing from the thick of the crowd. He folded his tongue inside his mouth, to ensure that the root ninja couldn't give away what he was doing.

The explosives went off close enough to the Root ninja to completely distract them from Asuma. Danzo seemed unfazed, scanning for where they came from.

Shikamaru acted quickly, releasing the Root ninja but grabbing the citizen to his left. He made that citizen push the Root ninja into the open space before the ninja could realize he had been released.

Shikamaru then released that citizen and shouted. "He's the one! He's attacking the Hokage!"

In the melee no one knew who shouted that, but eyes turned towards the ninja who looked bewildered. He opened his mouth to protest but three kunai embedded themselves in his chest. Shikamaru had thrown them from the center of the crowd. No one had seen him move.

There was general chaos as some of the explosives were on timed release and were still going off. The crowd began to scatter. Danzo swore, the effectiveness of this execution was now lost. The witnesses to it were leaving.

"Throw him in a cell!" He ordered the two Root ninja. With one last look at the dead ninja who 'betrayed' him, Danzo turned and went back inside the tower. He knew that ninja personally, and he was loyal to a fault. He had clearly been framed, and Danzo had a limited list of people who would have been able to do that. But he had no proof. It just showed that he was right; that there were ninja working against him instead of for him.

But he would crush them. All of them. Konoha would prevail. He, Danzo, would destroy them.

* * *

_One Week Later_

_Sunagakure_

Calamity had exceptionally sharp eyes.

It helped her in her archery. She could see targets from a long distance away, and aim with perfect precision. So it was with some confusion that she saw five objects fall from the sky a few miles to their right.

They were within a few miles of Sunagakure according to Kakashi, and indeed she could see the looming cliffs in the distance. So those falling objects to their right…what were they? Could they be…?

"Hey Kakashi!" Calamity shouted down at the Jounin from her perch atop the lead wagon. Kakashi barely nodded to acknowledge her call-out, his face buried in that book he had started back reading. They were safely in Wind Country Territory so Kakashi gave the illusion of being less alert. Calamity though had a feeling he was more alert than ever. For one thing, he hadn't turned a single page in miles.

"Sweety, can you tear yourself away from that book for a second and focus on a real woman?" Calamity said loudly with a smirk on her face.

Kakashi blushed and looked up at her, to the accompaniment of laughter from the Prince's staff and Sand Nin in earshot.

She nodded off to the east. "I saw five objects fall."

Kakashi turned quickly and stared off into the distance, his body tensing. The Sand Nin also seemed to stiffen and look off to the east. After a few seconds Kakashi relaxed. When he turned back to Calamity she could see he was replacing the Konoha headband over his Sharingan eye.

"Nothing to worry about. Just some foolish birds." Kakashi said nonchalantly and went back to his book.

The Sand nin laughed and continued walking, glad to be almost home.

Calamity glanced at Sakura and Hiruka and winked. Looks like the boys had come to Suna as well.

* * *

The wagon train entered into the city of Sunagakure with much fanfare. The citizens had come out to greet the Prince and his entourage. Streamers floated down and music played. The Kazekage knew how to greet royalty. The Prince would spend a lot here and inject money into the local economy.

The girls grinned at all the revelry. A stark contrast to the weeks spent in the wastelands and then the desert.

"Girls," Hiroka said. "I am absolutely filthy. The very first thing I am doing is finding a hotel room with a cold shower."

"Hear hear!" Calamity chimed in while Sakura nodded vigorously.

"Sounds good girls. Then we can see about finding those foolish birds." Kakashi said quietly, appearing close to them. "And stay close. We are unknown warriors in a Ninja Village. Do not be fooled by this hospitality. We are being watched very very closely."

The girls looked around and noticed that some of the Sand Nin were indeed watching them.

Kakashi nodded. "Let's do our best to be low key." The girls shook their heads in agreement.

"Hey! Where's Gaara!" A loud voice boomed over the crowds and the music. With a sense of dread the girls and Kakashi looked back over at the lead wagon.

There, in full white suit, with his two team mates flanking him in all white, the sun shining behind them like a light, stood Naruto with his hands folded and a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Hey Gaara! It's me! Where are you?" he shouted again, laughing. Senjii and Nagi grinning as well.

Sakura saw that Sand Nin were closing in on Naruto and the guys so she signaled to the girls and they started making their way back to the wagons. A shout went up from the crowd and someone shouted. "It's the Kazekage!"

They all looked up and saw Gaara approaching on a wave of sand twenty feet off the ground. Naruto smiled even wider than before and Hiraishin'd to on top the wave next to Gaara. The crowd gasped and the Sand Ninja, Baki included, drew their weapons to protect the Kazekage.

But Naruto made no attacking moves.

Instead he held out his hand to Gaara, who seemed shocked by it all.

"Naruto. You are a fool," Gaara said quietly, but without malice, shaking his hand. The Sand nin seemed to relax their guard a bit, but not completely. Baki recognized now who Naruto was and was startled. The transformation was glaring. The small boy had grown several inches in the past year and his muscle tone was evident under the white suit he was wearing. Even the white outfit, although odd for a Ninja to wear, was a big difference from the orange jumpsuit Naruto was famous for_. A lot must have happened to him_, Baki thought.

Senjii smiled and looked around from their position. Sure it was a flashy entrance, but really only the Spirit Wolf clan members Ravi and Rasheed – brothers – felt like sneaking in would be to their benefit. The city was just a stopping point so that they could get their bearings before starting the search.

He spotted a familiar head of pink hair and froze. Sakura, Hiroka and Calamity were glaring at them. He nudged Nagi who looked over startled.

"They look upset. What did you do?" Nagi asked Senjii.

"Me?" Senjii replied plaintively. "Naruto is the one palling around with the Kazekage of this place."

Naruto looked carefully at Gaara. "So you're the Kazekage now? Good job!" He said without a hint of jealousy.

Gaara looked at him, with what could almost, _almost_, be determined to be a smile. "I hear something about a mysterious village at the edge of the world. And it's leader, a man in white who wipes out cities with a single blow."

Naruto grinned and put his hand behind his head. "Guilty I guess. So what's with the parade? Knew I was coming?"

"The Parade was for me you young whelp!" The Prince bellowed from his vantage point near his wagon. He smiled though at the display of power. Gaara on the sand and Naruto appearing next to him by magic. "Now stop stealing my thunder and clear the way so my son and I can get to the Kazekage's Tower." He laughed as he re-entered the wagon.

Naruto flashed back to the wagon with Senjii and Nagi while Gaara turned and moved the sand wave back with him towards the tower. There would be time for talking later. Naruto spied the girls after Senjii whispered something to him. He looked shocked then ecstatic. Waving at them in the crowd and motioning for them to come.

The girls continued to glare at the boys, angry at basically being upstaged. All hopes of keeping a low profile gone they too hopped on top the wagons and rode with them.

Kakashi sighed and melted into the crowd. He had seen a flash of a familiar face earlier, so he knew he had something to do.

* * *

Temari was startled at the change in Naruto. Her brother had changed so much because of this boy that he was never far from her thoughts. When they had heard about his banishment Gaara was enraged. It had taken them weeks to calm him down, to not go immediately and devastate Konoha.

She remembered a loud mouthed, brash, impulsive boy. What she saw before her was someone else entirely. Not only was he physically different. Taller. Broader shoulders. His mannerisms had changed. He seemed to be more…still. The fidgeting he had been known for was gone. His smile was just as warm and friendly towards them, but something…something was off. He seemed to have matured, if that was at all possible in such a short space of time.

Kankaru was looking at her oddly. He had noticed it as well. Gaara was too enthralled with his first real friend to be bothered by either of his siblings at the moment.

Nagi and Senjii were off to the side of the room, explaining to Sakura, Hiroka and Calamity why they were there.

"A damn treasure hunt? You've come halfway around the world on a treasure hunt?" Calamity said loudly.

Temari's head spun towards them. Treasure hunt? And they were in Sunagakure?

"What treasure?" Gaara asked solemnly.

Naruto smiled and pointed at Senjii. "Senjii can explain it."

Senjii launched into the tale of the two swords and how he wanted them for their ability to slay demons. Gaara bristled a bit at this, but Naruto explained the fight they had with Ji-Hoon's demons and monsters. Gaara, Temari and Kankaru listened intently.

"So there is a whole land full of demons?" Kankaru chimed in.

Naruto nodded. "That's what Mabry says. The land of the dead and its capital city Yomi. The Tailed Beasts are just soldiers from there. I spoke to my…tenant…about it as well."

Temari rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Why should you have these swords? If they're in the Wind Country they belong to the Kazekage, or at the very least the Daimyo."

Gaara looked at her and shook his head before Senjii could protest. "We wouldn't even know they existed or their location." He looked over at Naruto and the other members of Tengoku. "But Temari makes a valid point. This is our land. We will take a percentage of any treasures found. Fifty percent."

Senjii opened his mouth to argue but Naruto glanced at him sharply. This did not silence the two Spirit Wolf Clan members however. "Our leader has already bargained for fifty percent!" Ravi exclaimed.

Gaara looked at him coldly. "He will settle for twenty five percent or nothing at all."

Naruto looked around the room and said loudly. "Everyone just relax. It's a treasure hunt! It's going to be fun! Worry about the gold and stuff after." He turned back to Gaara and continued with the stories of his adventures since leaving Konoha.

The tension in the room remained palpable.

* * *

_Somewhere in Grass Country_

Orochimaru sat in his chair and watched the display before him. It was really quite remarkably what a year of training had done for the boy. The added motivation of the sporadic reports of Naruto's progress had spurred him on to even greater heights than Orochimaru had foreseen.

Sasuke moved fluidly, decimating the small army gathered before him. His Sharingan eyes spun madly, anticipating moves, countering attacks. His sword lashed out like a viper's tongue, stabbing and maiming, but not killing.

This bothered Orochimaru. The boy still seemed reluctant to kill. Not that it mattered. He just wanted the Uchiha's body, skills and eyes to be sufficiently trained for when he took over his body. He had another year or two* to wait though.

A lot could happen in another year.

* * *

"Kakashi."

The voice floated in the air. The alley Kakashi had found himself in only had one exit, but he knew that before entering. He turned around to look lazily at the speaker, the man he had followed. He smiled at the familiar sight of green tights and a bowl haircut, with the thickest eyebrows on any Jounin alive.

"Maito," Kakashi nodded in greeting. Gai seemed different, more sedated. His customary exuberance was missing. Kakashi saw a shadow behind Gai and realized his apprentice and doppelganger was with him as well.

"What are you doing in Suna?" Kakashi asked Gai.

"I suppose I could ask you the same thing." Gai said, sighing. "Danzo sent us as ambassadors to Suna. We are to appease the Kazekage that Danzo has no intention of moving against him, but wants peace instead. Danzo cannot afford another war as yet. We lost a lot of men in the battle with Iwa. Did you hear about that?"

Kakashi nodded. "We ran into Asuma a few weeks ago, he told us."

Gai looked startled. "You saw Asuma? On his failed mission? Ah yes… I see now. You were protecting the prince. Could you not have let Asuma kill him? His punishment was…brutal."

Kakashi's eye grew dark. "Tell me."

While Gai told the tale of Asuma's public torture and almost execution, Kakashi noticed Lee getting angrier and angrier. There was a lot of pent up rage in Gai's apprentice. Most likely feeling like there was nothing he could do, Kakashi thought.

"…so he's locked up in the Konoha dungeons until further notice." Gai finished his tale.

Kakashi swore. "I assume it was either the Yamanaka or Nara clan that interfered?"

Gai nodded. "Shikamaru."

"Good for him." Kakashi said thoughtfully.

Kakashi looked at Lee. "Lee, Sakura and Naruto are in town. Why don't you go and find them."

Lee was dumbstruck. "N-Naruto? S-Sakura? Here?" he looked at his sensei who nodded in approval. In a flash Lee was gone.

"Gai, Konoha needs our help. My thoughts when I left was I'd be able to find a way to overthrow him. But it seems our best bet is assassination."

Gai sighed. "The man is guarded like an emperor. Impossible to tell how many ROOT members are with him at any given time. And now he has loyal Iwa nin as well. He may not be the strongest ninja, but he's incredibly well guarded. He is always one step ahead."

Kakashi paced. "Naruto founded a warrior village. But the place is peaceful. The warriors it would generate are a few years from being ready for any sort of battle. Naruto himself is not ready. He could probably wipe out the CITY of Konoha, but we need more precision than that. I'm afraid my plan to find help to attack Danzo is a failure. So far."

"Don't give up hope Kakashi." Gai said. "You are safe for now. So are Asuma and Anko, who is also in the dungeons. Konoha is hell but we are alive still. The citizens of Konoha do not need outsiders to save us. We would lose our pride. Our self respect. We will come up with a better plan soon enough. An opening will appear for one of us to take him out. Till then you are safest far from Konoha."

Kakashi swore in frustration. "What are you going to do about Lee?"

"Lee is holding onto a lot of rage. He's helpless like the rest of us. I wish I could find an outlet for him other than training. It seems to add to his feeling of helplessness."

Kakashi looked thoughtful. "I'm going on a mission to the Crescent Moon kingdom. Sakura and her new teammates are protecting the Prince. Why not send Lee with us, as a training mission. It would be good for him to have a break from the troubles of Konoha for a while."

Maito Gai stared up at the sky, a gust of wind and sand swept past them. "I will be stationed in Suna for a few months. I think that's an acceptable form of training for Lee. I will talk to him later." He walked up to Kakashi and they clasped each other's forearm.

"It is good to see you brother." They both said in unison.

* * *

"Wow!" Naruto remarked as the tiger leaped through the ring of fire to thunderous applause. The massive crowd watching the circus act was very appreciative of the feats. Even Ninja appreciated good entertainment.

Sakura and Hiroka squealed as a clown squirted water at them. Calamity laughed so hard she almost choked on her cotton candy. They were having a blast just relaxing.

The Prince and his son sat with Gaara and his siblings in a VIP box in the stands. They were for the most part also enjoying things. Gaara himself seemed impassive, but his siblings and Naruto who kept glancing at him could see that he was flabbergasted. Gaara had never had a chance to enjoy such simple pleasures in his life.

When the show ended, they gathered outside the main tent.

"I loved this circus!" The prince exclaimed. "They must come with us to my kingdom!"

Alarmed, Sakura and Hiroka tried to explain to the prince that they may be headed into danger, to which he was dismissive. Calamity was watching Hikaru who seemed fascinated by the tiger that was being rolled away in a cage.

* * *

A week later, Naruto, Senjii and Nagi stood facing Sakura, Hiroka, Calamity and Lee by the exit of Sunagakure. There had been a lot to catch up on, and Gaara had wanted to hear about Naruto's village and what had happened to him over the past year. Naruto had been thrilled to be talking to Gaara again. A person from his past who had no grudges towards him. A real friend. Still, Naruto found himself not revealing the exact location of his village. He didn't know why, but felt he should keep that secret for now.

Nagi and Senjii had smiled and let Naruto catch up, meanwhile exploring the city themselves. Neither had ever been this far east and it was vastly different from anything they'd ever seen.

The girls had been keeping an eye on the prince and his son, but also glad to share their tales of this mission with the boy's team.

Lee's tearful reunion with Naruto and Sakura was an embarrassing spectacle. His appearance had shocked everyone. Naruto and Sakura for a friend they hadn't seen in a year. Nagi, Senjii, Hiroka and Calamity for his appearance. They had all gotten along well, although the girls were at first hesitant about him coming along on their mission.

Kakashi explained to them that Lee was a formidable fighter, and they had no idea what they were getting themselves into by going to that island.

Today though, today they were all parting ways. Naruto and his team were going treasure hunting, and the girls were going with the prince to the Port city to set sail.

"Be safe Sakura! Lee!" Naruto waved exuberantly. "Take care of yourselves Hiroka! Calam!"

Hiroka and Senjii exchanged a look that didn't need words spoken. Pride, desire, happiness, worry. It was all there.

Calamity winked at Kakashi and hopped on top the nearest wagon, ready for her trip. Kakashi nodded at the boys, and Gai who stood nearby. Kakashi also noted several new additions to the Prince's entourage, going about hustling and getting the caravans ready. He looked at them carefully, noting their faces for future reference the walked to the head of the caravan.

The two groups parted ways, off to their own individual adventures.

* * *

"Right! So what's first!" Naruto turned around and asked Nagi and Senjii.

Senjii grinned. "Well we have our map, and we have a starting point. The Kazekage has assigned a team to us, with camels and supplies. It's a few days walk from here."

Nagi looked at the two of them and smiled. "Naruto, aren't you worried about the girls? Kakashi made it seem like they might be walking into a trap."

Naruto shook his head. "Kakashi is with them, so is Lee. Plus those girls can really fight. I trust them. Besides, I have a backup plan in place."

"Wanna let us in on it?" Nagi asked.

Naruto laughed. "Not really. Let's go treasure hunting!"

The boys found their group preparing to ride out. Kankuro was with them.

"Gaara asked me to accompany you. I feel he would have liked to come himself, but there are a lot of duties associated with being Kazekage." He offered by way of explanation. The two Spirit Wolf clan members sat on their camels, lower half of their faces covered by their scarfs. Their eyes glared at Kankuro, obviously upset that he was coming along.

_Perhaps they hoped we could leave without giving Gaara his share_, Senjii thought amusedly._ Maybe they don't realize we have thousands of miles of sand all around us, and pissing off a Kage who wields the power of sand would be monumentally stupid._

Naruto just smiled and nodded. They all mounted the camels and rode out, very uncomfortably, towards their treasure. As they left through the exit, they took a sharp turn east. Riding around the Cliffside of the village.

"That is the direction we must go." Kankuro said, pointing towards what looked like a shimmering lake, and barely discernable mountains.

Senjii, Nagi and Naruto stared at the sweltering, shimmering plain before them, wondering what they had gotten themselves into.

* * *

_A few days later_

Sakura looked out at the ocean, feeling the sea breeze against her face. She hadn't been on a ship since Naruto, Sasuke and she had been to the Land of Snow. She smiled as she remembered that time; a much more innocent time for her.

Lee was nearby, as he always was these days. But he was not the Lee Sakura remembered. He was much more quiet, much more reserved. His training also seemed ridiculous. Even on the ship, he climbed ropes, did laps on the railing of the boat, threatening to fall off and into the water below any second. Sakura didn't remember him being this way. It was…disconcerting.

Lee had been told to not tell Sakura and the girls about the fate of Asuma, and he obeyed his teacher. The girls didn't need the guilt of that to distract them from the mission at hand. He did however take it upon himself to act as the girls' guardian. Lee knew he owed Naruto that much. He didn't doubt they could handle themselves, but yet he vowed to himself that he would let not one drop of their blood hit the ground.

Calamity sat lazily in a deck chair. The ship was massive, and had a swimming pool in the front deck. As she lazed around she idly wondered at the way the world works. One day they're fighting for their lives in the forests of the badlands. Next they're crossing a massive desert. Then they're being hosted by the Kazekage as special guests, now they were on a luxury liner headed to the world famous crescent moon kingdom, but it was probably a death trap waiting for them.

Life was funny.

* * *

One of the servants was throwing a bucket of dishwater off the back of the boat when he slipped and fell over the railing. Another servant tried to grab onto him but missed and failed. The servant who fell did a backflip in midair and attached his feet to the hull of the ship.

"Whew," he let a gasp of relief escape his lips. He was preparing to climb back up when a wave splashed up and hit him full force against the hull.

He popped into smoke. The watching servant sighed and went back about his work.

Hundreds of miles away, a ship that should not be able to float eased its way through the waters of the eastern ocean. It's crew a motley assembly of the undead, flesh rotting even further in the sea air.

As one all their heads turned to the east. Thirty voices spoke as one. "The nine times cursed one has been found master Ji-Hoon. We are sailing to the east."

* * *

"We have found something!" One of the Suna men that accompanied them shouted down to Naruto's team. They had been in the mountains for days now, following the map that Senjii had found. Kankuro said that no one from Suna ever came this way anymore. The mountains were a death trap if you got caught in a sandstorm. Millions of loose rocks and boulders would batter a person to a pulp, he explained. Plus the trade routes had changed.

Senjii and Nagi were the first ones up the slope towards where the Suna man had called out to them. There was a small trail, long since abandoned. Right to the side of the trail there was a three foot tall stone tablet. They all gathered around and looked at it in awe.

There, engraved in the stone, were three heads. The place where might have been three crowns implanted in the stone were scratches and digs.

"This must be where that diary said they pried off the crowns of the three kings." Nagi said excitedly.

Kankuro stared in disbelief. He had partly believed that this was all a waste of time, but to actually see this marker…

"So what does the marker say?" Senjii asked, but not to anyone in particular.

Kankuro spoke up. "It's a very old language. And I don't understand all of it. But it says 'Beware the three kings. They walk. Beware the three kings. The power of the ancients within. Beware the three kings.'"

A soft whisper blew through the gathered men.

"To hell with this." One of the Suna men said and turned around; determined to walk home. Kankuro grabbed the ninja before he went too far and reminded him that _Gaara_ had ordered him to accompany them. The man grew pale and stood his ground.

"So where do we go from here?" Nagi asked.

"Let's look around. If this is a grave marker, the tomb has to be nearby." Kankuro said. They all split up to scour the hillside.

Several hours later, no one had found any sign of an entrance. They made a small camp as night was falling. The Suna nin were seeing about the fire and food while Naruto and company discussed where to go from here.

"There has to be a clue somewhere here." Senjii said frustratingly.

Kankuro nodded in agreement. "The marker would not be here if the tomb is not here. It is here somewhere."

One of the Suna men spoke up. "We should not stay here. This mountain is cursed. Death will stalk us here."

Kankuro growled at him. "You are ninja of Sunagakure! Death is always on our backs. We will face anything that comes with honor, the honor befitting of Suna! Do not let me hear you speak of this again."

Silence fell over the camp, just the sound of the fire crackling broke the cool evening.

A soft wind blew through the camp, a ghostly laughter faintly drifting through the air. The camels started to make noise, pulling hard against the ropes that bound them.

All the warriors stood up and looked around. The laughter seemed to come from everywhere yet nowhere.

"That's pretty creepy." Naruto said out loud.

The laughter died down and the wind dropped all of a sudden. Kankuro noticed the change in the temperature, from cool evening to a fast rise in heat. That plus the lack of wind...

"Sandstorm!" He shouted. The Suna nin ran for the camels, taking long cloaks with them. They each tackled the camels to the ground, covering their eyes, and pulling the heavy cloaks over both themselves and the camels. Muttering a Jutsu that all Suna nin learn at a young age, the Cloaks became a thin sheet of solid rock. Strong enough to protect from sand, but not much else.

"Naruto! Guys!" Kankuro bellowed at them as the wind picked up to a shrieking gale. "Find shelter! Fast!" he too lay down flat, dragging his cloak over himself.

Senjii, Nagi and Naruto looked at each other. "Remind me to ask them about that trick afterward!" Nagi shouted at Senjii before melting into the shadows.

Senjii took his swords and slashed as hard as he could against the ground forming a hole which he hopped inside. He had done this a long time ago, when he'd first seen Naruto go berserker, so he hoped it would protect him against what was coming.

Naruto saw the two Spirit Wolf clan members looking around frantically for somewhere to shelter. He formed a quick Rasengan and slammed it into a giant rock. It created enough of a space for both of them. He ushered them inside and forming two more clones, moved another rock in front of it. There was still plenty space, but it was better than nothing.

That just left Naruto exposed as the sandstorm hit them. The noise was deafening, more than just sand, it was rocks and boulders the size of people being flung around like leaves. Naruto was going to create another Rasengan hole for himself, but saw rocks heading for the cloak sheltered Suna nin and Kankuro. Before he could react, one giant boulder smashed through one, shattering the cloak like glass. Blood and screams erupted from the impact, to be drowned out by the noise of the sand and the wind.

Naruto saw more rocks heading for the others and acted without thinking. He pushed his hands forward feeding chakra into it; as much as he could muster. He forced an immeasurable amount of wind in a blast to move those rocks away from his comrades.

It was an explosion of gravel and dust as the force of the wind coming from the east met the force of Naruto's wind chakra blast. The unstoppable force of a sandstorm met the immoveable force of Naruto's jutsu. Rocks that were caught in the middle turned to dust. Dust found itself pushed to the side and around. Naruto parted the sandstorm like a rock in a stream, making it go around the encampment.

Kankuro could not believe his eyes. He could see through a crack in his 'cloak' to what Naruto was doing. _That shouldn't be possible._

Naruto fell to one knee, feeling the strain on his body. But the sandstorm was not letting up. He called on all the chakra he had, needing it to fight against nature itself.

Suddenly Senjii was there behind him, bracing his back. The hole Senjii was in was fine, but he could see Naruto needed some help. A heartbeat later and Nagi was there too. Both of them held him up straight while he pushed chakra and wind to battle the storm.

Seconds turned to minutes. It felt like an eternity but Naruto held on.

As fast as it began, it was over.

The wind just stopped and became normal again. The last of Naruto's chakra blast decimated a path in front of them, crumbling boulders and pieces of the cliffs to dust before he could stop.

He fell backwards but Nagi and Senjii caught him. The Suna nin released their jutsus and clambered back to their feet. The Spirit Wolf brothers broke free of their shelter, staring in disbelief at Naruto. They'd seen everything from their vantage point.

This was the leader of their village. A man who could fight against the power of a sandstorm, and win.

Naruto fainted into a deep sleep. "Is he alright?" Kankuro asked.

Senjii grinned but didn't bother to answer as Naruto let out a loud snore. "He'll be fine." Said Nagi with a smile.

Kankuro went to check on the Suna nin who had been crushed. The cloak jutsu only protected against sand, not rocks as large as this one. As he approached though he saw a hole in the ground where the huge rock had hit. Looking closer, through the gore and body of the crushed Suna nin, was a hole leading into the ground. The rock had passed clean through him and broken into some underground chamber.

Moving aside what was left of the body carefully, he peered into the hole. It was at least two feet in diameter, but it was clear that it was a lot deeper than one might initially think. After staring into it for a few seconds he called out to the others.

"Over here! The tomb is under us!"


	19. Chapter 19 : Break!

**Chapter 19**

**Break!**

_Konoha_

It was an odd smell, ammonia and fur together. It assaulted the senses. Shikamaru shrugged it off and looked back at Kiba. His face smiled, his voice was steady and sure as he spoke to his friend in his recovery bed in the Inuzuka clan grounds.

"I'm very glad you are healing Kiba." Shikamaru said elatedly. "Your bravery in the war against Iwagakure will be noticed I'm sure." He grasped Kiba's hand in a firm shake and let go, beaming.

Kiba was not the brightest of the rookie nine, but neither was he a fool. Shikamaru was not the overly joyous type, nor was he about to congratulate anyone for that battle. He glanced down at the piece of string he felt in his hand. The string that Shikamaru had slipped there. The string was exceedingly thin, impossible to see from any distance away.

Kiba felt a chakra pulse coming from the string, and realized it was Shikamaru. Old Ninja code. Shikamaru was sending pulses in numeric sequences. Kiba grasped the idea. Shikamaru didn't want anyone to hear what he really had to say.

He frowned. But that would mean that Shikamaru didn't trust the safety of the clan buildings, or maybe the clan itself. _His_ clan.

Their teachers had spent the better part of a month training them in this code. A useful technique. Kiba hadn't really wanted to pay attention, but his mother had beaten some sense into him. This could one day save his life.

He focused on the pulses Shikamaru was sending.

"So when do you think you'll be back on your feet?" Shikamaru said out loud. Kiba felt for the pulses. _Danzo…almost…killed…Asuma._

Kiba didn't move, afraid to betray what was going on. He cleared his throat after a few seconds. "Umm…any day now. I feel fine, but my mother won't release me just yet." Kiba tried really hard to remember the right codes and sent his own chakra up the string.

_What…do…we…do…now?_

Shikamaru smiled in relief. He wasn't sure Kiba would pick up on the Chakra pulses.

"That's good, that's very good. When she does release you we need to get back to training. Since I'm a chunnin now I want your nose available for any missions I need you for."  
_I won't leave him to rot in the dungeons until Danzo decides to kill him._

Kiba took a few seconds to decipher what Shikamaru had said then nodded. He didn't even bother sending the Chakra pulses in reply.

"Of course. I'll be ready."

* * *

Ino snuck a glance across the courtyard. The anbu guarding this side entrance to the Konoha dungeons stood alert. She kept strolling, making sure not to seem too stiff or interested in his presence. Ever since Shikamaru had spoken to them about training harder she had been practicing. Her new technique was still not up to where she thought it was perfected, but hopefully it would be up to the task that had been assigned to her.

Her clan specialized in mind reading and manipulation. They did however require one of two things; either physical contact or eye contact. She decided against the physical contact as that might be picked up on a lot easier.

The scarf around her neck fluttered in the wind, she knew her blonde hair would also be blowing a bit. Ino was well aware that she was growing into a pretty woman. It was time to see if that male guard would notice. She allowed her scarf to blow off her neck and she reached up to catch it. Her line of sight crossed the guards whose eyes had immediately latched onto her movement, and lingered there.

She smiled at him as her eyes met his…and struck.

Softly.

Quickly.

In a second it was over and she was out. He smiled back at her through his mask and looked away, again on alert guarding the entrance.

She kept walking, holding a tight grimace on her face. It was a bit of a strain. In this technique she didn't go looking for a specific memory, she took all of the surface memories. Every single one, in one single swipe. Ino went into a tea shop and sat down, closing her eyes. She wordlessly waved away the waitress and signaled for some tea. She felt the pressure as the jumble of memories burned her mind. She sifted through them as fast as she could, knowing that she could only hold onto this much for so long.

_There_. She thought, looking at one particular scene. _Found him._

Ino bolted from the table and raced for the bathroom. She barely made it there before she threw up. The effort of that jutsu was still a lot for her to handle.

* * *

Hinata stood in the courtyard, facing her father. He looked sternly down at her. "You what?" he asked gruffly.

"I want to learn it," she repeated, standing steadfast. Seeing her friends hurt, the massacre of the war, the cruelty of Danzo had changed something inside Hinata. Suddenly disappointing her father seemed like such a small thing.

"The style you wish to learn is beyond you." Hiashi said, not unkindly yet firmly. "You cannot even best your smaller sister in a fight."

Hinata exclaimed in exasperation. "She is my younger sister! And she looks like mother. I…I cannot strike her." She shook her head and looked down at her hands. "We have to do something. There is no one to save us from this world but ourselves and those we trust. Everyone else is getting stronger, I need to as well." She looked up at her father, directly in his eyes.

He didn't see a single sign of weakness nor a hint of the tears he was sure she'd be shedding. Despite himself he let a small smile slip out. He had always wanted Hinata to be stronger. When her mother died he had lost so much, and both she and Hanabi looked so much like her. Hiashi had not known how to raise daughters. Hanabi took to his style of parenting very well, but Hinata…had always been softer.

Now he saw strength, and strength Hiashi could work with.

He shifted his legs apart and raised one hand palm upwards towards her. "Then come daughter, and show me what you know."

Hinata looked at him and felt a slight bit of shock. Her father was acknowledging her. Part of her wanted to exclaim in joy… but now was not the time. She faced him squarely, determined to show him how far she had come.

She burst forward, her speed momentarily catching Hiashi off guard. Her straight arm palm thrust at his midsection was easily blocked, his hands sweeping down. Her arm bent at the elbow though and her elbow became an attack on his blocking arm, catching it a glancing blow. Hiashi turned and struck out himself. His fingers jabbed outwards, aiming for her inner arm.

HInata opened her arms wider and dodged the jab. She punched with her right hand only to have Hiashi block with his left, twisting around her forearm. He withdrew then punched with both hands. He blocked from the inside, parrying them outwards with both of his hands. She kicked with her left leg and he raised his leg, bringing his knee level and blocking the kick. She swept her right arm in a roundhouse punch, which he avoided by stepping back, but she paused after missing and brought her fist back in a backhand, stepping in.

Hiashi kicked forward straight, but Hinata blocked his kick with her foot. He punched forward but Hinata copying one of his moves parried it from the inside. She dropped her arms to her waist and turned, moving her body into his. Hiashi could barely withhold the feeling of shock as Hinata penetrated his defenses. True he was not going all out on her, but nonetheless it was a skillful maneuver.

Hinata bent at the waist, backwards, her right hand coming up and over her face towards his neck in a thrust that would incapacitate a lesser opponent. Hiashi too bent backwards to avoid it, grasping her shirt and heaving her over his twisting body in a throw.

In mid air, Hinata twisted her body and held on tightly to her father's arm. With another twist she brought her feet together under his arm towards his ribcage. It was inventive, it was impromptu. Hinata smiled for the briefest of moments. It was Naruto.

Hiashi grunted as Hinata's kick connected. She did not use enough force to crack anything but he felt it nonetheless. It was a move that you did not learn in their open palm style, but it worked so he would not begrudge her that.

He brought his left hand across and closed off her right leg chakra points. Hinata grunted a little bit in pain as she broke free of his grasp and fell to the ground, still managing to land on her feet.

Hiashi saw her take the ready stance again, ignoring the pain she had to be feeling in that leg. He lowered his guard, and nodded at Hinata, with the smallest hint of a smile.

Hinata wanted to scream in happiness. Her father accepted her, approved of her.

Hiashi cleared his throat. "The first thing you need to know about the Twin Lion Step Style is that it is a savage dance…"

* * *

Shino gathered his necessities in his sack and left it on his bed. He would not be taking it now, but when he did return he did not expect to have the time to then pack. He prided himself on his clinical ability to plan ahead. He could admit however, very clinically, that Shikamaru was the best tactician he had ever met.

The plan would work.

The plan for after the plan would work as well.

The plan after that though, was where the trouble would begin.

* * *

_Middle of the __Ocean,__ 7 days west of the Crescent Moon Kingdom_

Lee was crazy.

That had to be it, Hiroka told herself for the hundredth time that week. His latest form of training was swimming after their ship. Not only was it an insane thing to do in the middle of the ocean, but they were moving at thirty knots, so it was insane that he could keep up! Not only that, but he had stripped down to just a shorts so she could see the weights attached to his legs and arms. The boy needed professional help.

Calamity, Sakura and herself leaned against the back railing of the stern of their ship, watching Lee's figure swim the chop behind them. It was getting on in the evening and he'd been at it for an hour.

They were just about to call out to him and let him know it was time to come in when a cry went up from the crow's nest.

"Ship on the horizon! Starboard!"

The girls walked over to the right side of the boat and saw the spec on the horizon. It was getting larger so it seemed to be headed in their direction.

Lee joined them after a minute, drying off with his towel. "What's going on?" he asked, breathing heavily from the exertion.

"There's a ship." Hiroka began, only to be interrupted by Calamity.

"Frell! That's a pirate ship!" she exclaimed.

"What?" The others asked in unison. Calamity's eyesight was magnificent so they did not doubt her. Seconds later the same cry came from the crow's nest again.

"Pirates!"

The crew was a blur as it moved to speed up the ship to twice what it was before. The wind whipped at the girls as the ship sped ahead trying to outrun the intercept path of the pirates. For some reason though it didn't seem to work, within minutes it was clear the pirate ship had changed course and not only would intercept them, but was gaining speed even faster than this luxury liner was able to attain.

The Prince and his son were suddenly on the deck.

"What's going on?" he asked frantically. Ikaro clutched looked at Calamity expectantly.

"Pirates your highness, they're gaining fast." Kakashi said calmly as he approached. "I suggest you get below. We will deal with it." The prince nodded and left to go below. Calamity looked at Ikaro and touched her bow. The boy understood and clutched his own bow and the arrows the two of them had made together. He would protect his dad.

Within minutes the pirate ship was close enough that they could make out the state of it. Shockingly the ship seemed to be already destroyed. It had a huge hole in one side, the sails were in tatters, one of its masts was broken. It was a wreck.

The crew nervously poured as much power into their steam engine as they could, but the ship still gained on them.

As the ship pulled up alongside, they could finally see the crew of that dilapidated ship. Pirates in various forms of decomposition were animatedly gathering their weapons. Swords and pistols were unsheathed and unholy groans and howls echoed over the sea to the crew of the Prince's liner.

Kakashi stood stunned. _A ship of the undead!_

"Calamity, take a few out let's see what happens." Kakashi asked of her.

With a shudder Calamity notched several arrows to her bow. "With pleasure." A sharp twang and three arrows found their targets. Three bodies were thrown backwards from the force of the impact. The other pirates didn't seem fazed in the least. With good reason it seems as the three hit pirates got to their feet and didn't even both to pull the arrows out, just stood there, waiting for the ships to get close enough to board.

Hiroka shivered. "What are they?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Reanimated corpses. I've seen jutsu that can do this. The only way to kill them is to remove the head or destroy the brains. An arrow won't do the job Calamity, you need to completely destroy the brain. We must not let them board, when they are close enough, start your attacks."

Sakura fixed her steely gaze on the ship as it approached. She heard a click and saw Lee gently remove his weights from his legs and his wrists, and lay them on the deck. He saw her look at him and he spoke as he looked back across the water.

"Gai-sensei once told me only to remove the weights if in the battle my life or someone else's life I wished to protect depended on it. But I've seen war. In every battle a life hangs in the balance." He cracked his knuckles and his neck. The ship was within fifteen feet of them.

"Let's show these guys the fires of our youth!" Lee cried out as he sprung from the railings and flipping in the air, landed on the Pirate ship. As he landed a pirate shot a pistol at him. Lee bent at the waist and twisted to the side. The bullet took out a pirate behind him. Lee sped in and with a solid punch to the chin, sent the undead pirate flying backwards.

A light whistle alerted Lee to the danger and he ducked low as a blade sliced the air above him. He back flipped and struck with his foot the top of the pirate who had swung the swords head, crushing the top of his skull. The pirate fell in a heap and didn't move. Lee, satisfied that this method would kill them, continued to attack.

Sakura and Hiroka landed on the deck. Sakura was a blur of fists, her first punch atomizing a zombie pirate's head. Hiroka twisted and snaked her scarf towards another, sending chakra pulses down it, to wrap it around the neck of a pirate. With a switch of her stance and a twist of her body, she pulled and snapped the neck. Knowing she needed to do more than that though, she heaved harder and crushed the neck completed, and pulled the head off the shoulders, ripping the decomposing skin and tendons.

The head rolled and Hiroka pulled her scarf in for another attack.

A pirate slashed at Sakura, forcing her to dodge, left, right, then left again. The undead sailor pressed her, kept pushing and slicing the air with his sword as she dodged. Frustrated the pirate pulled out his pistol and fired point blank. Sakura didn't have time to move as the slug hit her in the side and passed right through, impacting the rotten wooden cabin behind her.

The pirate leaned in, his foul breath close to Sakura. "Where is the nine times cursed one?" His eerie voice demanded. "His scent is on you."

Sakura reach up and jabbed her fingers under his chin, penetrating the soft flesh there and pulling hard, ripped his lower jaw out.

Her other fist cocked back and destroyed the pirate's head. She clutched her side quickly applied a local numbing jutsu. It would not fix the damage, but she wouldn't feel it for a few minutes. It had passed clean through and was far enough to her side that she wasn't worried about it.

Back on the Prince's ship, the crew members and the Princes' entourage stood watching. Several members of the entourage looked anxiously on as the girls and Lee battled the undead pirates. Kakashi noticed them and looked for a few seconds before smirking behind his mask. He turned his attention back to the pirate ship.

"The girls are doing a good job, Lee as well. But there are too many pirates. We need to destroy the ship completely." Kakashi said out loud to no one in particular. Calamity looked at him for a second then grinned. She pulled out her arrows and started attaching exploding tags to the tips. She didn't have the chakra control to set these off, but she could place them and then maybe… she looked at Kakashi questioningly and he looked back, nodding.

She began firing the arrows into the hull of the ship, at equal distances, five feet apart. Thud. Thud. They lined the bottom hull of the ship.

Lee got sliced by a lucky pirate, his arm bleeding. He swiveled and crushed the pirates face with the heel of his boot.

Hiroka cried angrily out as a sword punched a hole in her scarf. A hail of pistol fire aimed at her, but she flipped and jumped high into the air, dodging well.

Kakashi saw what was going on and shouted at one of the Prince's entourage. "Go get them!"

Calamity was confused as to why Kakashi would tell civilians to enter the battle, but watched wide eyed as five normal looking men jumped the distance to the pirate ship. One guy ran to where Sakura was. She saw him coming and looked perplexed for a second. But in a flash he was by her side, and within a blink they appeared back on the ship.

Lee as well was grabbed by one of the entourage and in a blink of an eye they were back on the ship. Hiroka was able to jump back over on her own, landing next to Sakura who was bleeding. Kakashi whistled hard and the three entourage members left on the pirate ship grinned and waved back. One of them dove over the railing and released a pulse of weak chakra. He dispersed into a cloud of smoke, but had sacrificed his chakra to light all the exploding tags.

"What the hell!" Hiroka exclaimed.

"Shadow clones!" Sakura cried out. "Naruto?"

The two remaining clones on the ship let go their Henge and resumed the appearance of Naruto, replete in his white suit.

"The Nine times cursed one." All the Pirates said in unison. "Our master searches for you. We will take you to our master."

Naruto grinned back at them. "Fat chance zombie pirates. Ninjas win every time."

With a chakra push of wind, the two Narutos pushed the Prince's ship away from the Pirate ship. The exertion caused both to puff into clouds of smoke, seconds before the Pirate ship exploded into nothing but splinters and tattered rags. Bodies were flung into the sky and into the ocean. Nothing remained of the ship.

Sakura turned to the entourage member who had Hiraishin'd her to the Prince's ship. "Naruto!"

He looked at her sheepishly. "You've got red on you."

* * *

_To the __East__ of Sunagakure_

Naruto awoke with a start. The memories of the battle on the pirate ship came flooding into him. He smiled as he realized that the girls had fought better than he thought they would, and vowed to not underestimate them again. He looked around and realized they were in a dark cavern. Lit torches surrounded them and some distance away Nagi and Senjii were talking heatedly with Kankuro and the Suna-nin.

Naruto struggled to his feet and walked over. "What's going on guys?"

They stopped talking and looked over at him. "Naruto!" Senjii exclaimed happily. "Glad you're alright."

Kankuro nodded. Naruto continued to surprise him. That display of power earlier had been impressive.

"So where are we?" Naruto asked looking around. The cavern they were in seemed to be manmade. Ornate pillars stretched up to the ceiling. The walls seemed to be alive with carvings and paintings.

"Well the storm punched a hole in the ceiling of this place, so we climbed in. It seems to be a main hall. An entryway into the tomb of the three kings." Kankuro replied.

"Excellent!" Naruto said. "So let's go get those swords for you Senjii!" He strode forward only to be grabbed back by Nagi.

"No Naruto!" He said, gripping Naruto's arm tightly "Its booby trapped. There are warnings all over the walls about entering the chamber."

Naruto shrugged. "I'll send in some shadow clones and we'll see what the traps are." He made the hand signals for his favorite Jutsu only for…nothing…

Nothing happened.

"Hey what's going on?" He asked perplexed.

Senjii nodded. "Yea, all of us. I can't feel any Chi. Nagi can't use his abilities. Kankuro said he can't create chakra strings for his puppets. In this chamber there seems to be some method to suppress Chakra."

Naruto scowled. "So what are we going to do?"

The Spirit Wolf clan members came over with notes between them, having been studying the wall drawings. "We think we have all the clues to enter the chamber." Ravi said.

Rasheed nodded. "Yes, there are three tests. One each devised for each of the three Kings."

"First show your respect to the Royal King. Secondly follow in the footsteps of the avenging son. Thirdly you must stay true and uphold the honor of the assassin."

Naruto stared at them. "OK…so what does that mean?"

The Spirit Wolf brothers looked at each other and shrugged. "I don't know. Guess we'll find out."

Kankuro growled. "We will send in one of my men to check it out." He waved over one of the Suna-nin, wearing his dust colored coat over a dark red shirt.

"Go take a look. Carefully." Kankuro ordered the ninja. The ninja nodded and entered what was a long dark tunnel. The torch seemed to make little to no impact on the darkness of the tunnel. After a few seconds, Naruto and the others could only make out the barest flicker of the light. A whistle of air and the light fell to the ground. Moments later the head of the Suna-nin rolled to the feet of Kankuro who looked at it in shock.

Naruto swore. "OK that didn't work. We are not sending in any more people until we can figure out those clues!"

Kankuro looked over at him with regret and surprise on his face. "We're Suna-nin. We do not back down."

Naruto was upset at the unnecessary death. "No one is backing down, but even I don't rush into a trap."

Remembering how he used to be on his first mission, he sheepishly grinned and rubbed the back of his neck as he admitted, "Uh, anymore."

Nagi looked thoughtful. "His head is severed clean. Means a blade took it off. So the first trap is one or several blades."

"In the darkness it would be impossible to see those coming, and the corridor only allows for one person at a time." Naruto said thoughtfully.

"I can do it." Senjii said calmly.

"No Senjii, wait. We can figure out another way." Naruto said.

"Hey, they don't call me the _Dark Blade_ for nothing Naruto. Remember my Kumite match?" he replied. "Besides this whole hunt was my idea, and I'm the one who wants the swords, so the risk should be mine."

Naruto did remember that match. He had fought blindfolded and won against a very skilled opponent. With a sigh Naruto nodded. "If you lose your head I promise you I will stick it in a men's room toilet when we get home for all of eternity."

Nagi grinned at Senjii. "Ten silver says you get injured."

Senjii laughed. "Taken!"

He entered the corridor without a torch. Walking slowly, Senjii closed his eyes. He couldn't see anyway and didn't want anything to distract from his other senses. He took step after step. Feeling the stone floor turn a little slippery. The blood from the unfortunate Suna-nin was seeping down the corridor. Senji knew he should be OK up until he reached the actual body.

As his feet found the body he heard a slight whistle. Senjii bent backwards at the waist, feeling a long sharp blade cut the air above him. He straightened up, hearing now machinery moving as the blade came around again. This time he dove forward. He felt another blade coming up from the right, designed to cut a person in two. He rolled and came to a stop when he hit something hard. The blades stopped. Senjii opened his eyes. The darkness of the corridor was behind him but the small room at the end of the corridor he could barely see in. Looking at what he was leaning against, he realized it was a statue of a King sitting on a throne.

"Hmph," he whispered to himself. "Show your respect huh? Wanted us to bow and kneel to you before we enter? Way to command respect your highness."

He stood up, seeing in the dim light a small room to the left that had gears and housed what looked like the blades. He went into the room and with a heave pulled one of the cogs out. He went back outside.

"Hey guys, it's clear! Come on in!" He shouted to his friends.

Naruto and the crew entered the tunnel, making their way past the trap. The Suna-nin grabbed their friend and wrapped the body in his cloak. The gently laid him down to the side of the little chamber they were in. Kankuro looked up at the statue of the king. "He looks just like my father," he remarked. "Stern, cruel."

Naruto put his hand on his shoulder and looked to the Spirit Wolf brothers in the dim light. They nodded back and raised their torches. Beyond the statue was anther tunnel.

"Follow the footsteps of the avenging son."

Senjii sighed and entered the tunnel again, noticing this one was a lot shorter. "Umm…guys? Can you come up here?"

They all entered the tunnel and came out into the chamber that Senjii was in. It was a large room with large square stone tiles. At the far end they spied a statue of a ninja, spear in one arm, body leaning to one side, hand out in a beckoning signal.

"All kind of alarms are going off in my head right now." Senjii said. "This is very dangerous."

Nagi looked carefully at the runes on the floor. "These are martial art markings," he said. "Names of positions. Riding horse. Crane with one wing." He looked up at the statue. "This is a test of your Taijutsu skills. We need to do just the right moves in just the right sequence in order to get past this one."

Naruto frowned. "I'm not a Taijutsu expert."

Senjii shrugged, "Neither am I."

The Spirit Wolf Clan brothers said, "We are, but we work in tandem. I doubt the trap will allow two people to pass."

Kankuro shook his head. "I am a puppet master. My hand to hand combat is rudimentary."

Nagi sighed. "I am probably our best shot here. My style is Capoeira but maybe I can adapt it slightly to pass this test." He stepped up to what he thought was the starting block. He stared at the blocks around him for a few minutes, in dead silence. Everyone watched him nervously.

Nagi brought his hands to his side and twisted his back leg back in a basic Capoeira move, then in a twirl he was off. He landed in spread stance, saying quietly the title on the blocks. "The tiger hugs its head." His left hand in a fist over his head, his right arm palm backwards across his chest.

He swung his leg forward, shifted his weight to it and somersaulted to the next set of stones. Two small darts flew up from stones dangerously close to Nagi, surprising everyone. He landed on another stone, on one leg, the other up across his thigh, his arms back and front in a gripping position. "Hegemon king pours his drink."

"Careful Nagi!" Kankuro shouted out. "I can smell the poison in the darts from here. One graze and you'll be dead in thirty seconds."

Nagi let a drop of sweat fall. "Thanks."

Senjii barked out. "This is a chance to win back your ten silver!"

Nagi grinned and looked around at the stones. If this were his Taijutsu form, he just went from a defensive stance to a multi use attack and defense one. The next logical step would be an attack, then a counter block, then an attack, then a defense. He spied the closest attack step and moved towards that stone. He swept his legs underneath himself and sprang forward onto one hand, palm springing across to an overhead kick, then spinning around and around and landing in a grasshopper stance.

He was halfway across the room.

Naruto watched quietly and anxiously as one of his best friends risked everything on a martial art style he wasn't familiar with. Although he did look natural while doing it.

Nagi flipped again, landing on his left leg. Then it happened. There was a creak and a spike fell from the ceiling, aimed right for the tile he was on. Nagi spied it and lunged onto another tile. Another spike fell. _Apparantly the test was meant to be done faster,_ Nagi thought then inwardly summoning up his courage, he moved completely on instinct. He danced his Capoeira, using his moves, flips and attack stances as he moved from tile to tile.

He heard a click beneath one of his steps and he dodged just in time to avoid darts being shot out of the stone. Another ominous click and the floor erupted in a swarm of darts. Nagi twisted and flipped, moving as fast as he could. There were gaps in the attack, gaps where he would be unharmed, he moved, danced, turned and flipped his way through the openings. Finally, he landed on the far side of the room, collapsing to his knees.

"Nagi!" Naruto shouted, about to run out after his friend.

Nagi raised his hand, "Wait! I'm alright. Just need to catch my breath."

He stood up slowly, breathing in deep. _That was close!_

He saw a lever by the statue and pulled on it. The statue shifted slightly to the right and the floor resonated with a click. He picked up a rock and skipped it across the floor. No darts rose up.

"OK looks safe now." Nagi said motioning them over. They cautiously walked over to him, spying a door behind the statue.

They cautiously opened it and entered the next room. In the room stood a pedestal with two swords. Surrounding the room was many piles of gold, jewelry and coins, rare stones and statues. The wealth of an ancient kingdom all in this room.

All eyes though were on the pedestal in the middle of the room, for next to it stood a ghost of a man.

"_Nuga dangsin-eun_." The eerie voice echoed in the cavern, the ghost pointing at Senjii. They looked at each other curiously. Kankuro cleared his throat. "It's an old language. As royalty I was taught it, but it's not used anymore. He asked 'who are you?'."

Senjii cleared his throat. "I am Senjii. These are my friends. I have come for Gan Jiang and Mo Ye."

Before Kankaru could translate the ghostly figure laughed eerily. "_Gan Jian? Mo Ye? Wae dangsin-i geudeul-eulhaeyahabnikka?_"

"He asked 'why should you have them?'." Kankuro chimed in afterwards.

"Yeah," Senjii nodded. "I figured he said something like that. I will use them to kill demons and protect my friends."

Kankuro translated for the ghost who looked at him sharply.

"_Kal-eulneun huisaeng-e uihae mandeul-eojyeossseubnida. dangsin-i geudeul-e daehae han chinguui huisaenghaeyahabnida_." He whispered in the gloomy cavern.

"You must sacrifice, kill, one of us to get the swords." Kankuro said incredulously. "…and yes I think he's serious."

Senjii stared at the ghost before him. "I will not."

The ghost did not wait for Kankaru's translation. "_Geuleom dangsin-eun jug-eul geos-ida_."

"Then you will die." Kankuro said. The room began to shake and rocks began to fall. "We need to get out of here!" He and the Suna-nin went back through into the other room. The two Spirit Wolf brothers followed suit, with their pants looking suspiciously stuffed with gold and treasures.

"Not without those swords." Senjii said stubbornly. He approached the ghost defiantly. The ghost wore what looked like ancient battle armor and pulled his own sword out. Senjii drew his swords, walking closer, repeating the last hint. "Uphold the honor of the assassin. Uphold the honor of the assassin. Uphold the honor of the assassin."

As he took a step up to meet the ghost, he thought back to the story of the three kings, what the assassin had done for a boy he had just met on a journey. He had sacrificed everything. With a start, Senjii knew what he had to do.

He stopped in his tracks, prayed that he was right, and plunged his swords into his stomach.

"Senjii!" Naruto screamed rushing forward. An impenetrable but invisible barrier sprung up between Naruto, Nagi and Senjii, keeping his friends away while the ghost stepped in front of Senjii.

The ghost sheathed his sword and pulled Senjii's sword out of his body. Touching the wound, he looked kindly at the fallen warrior.

"_Dangsin-i nal yeong-gwang-ibnida. dangsin-eun gachigaissda_." The wound closed up and Senjii coughed. The ghost stood up and motioned for the swords. They appeared in his hands and he bowed to Senjii.

Senjii stood and grasped the swords, feeling the power within them. He bowed back to the ghost who smiled and dissipated. The trembling in the room stopped. A statue that looked exactly like the ghost on the far side of the room shifted slightly, showing a stairwell that led up.

"Guys!" Senjii turned and grinned. "I did it!"

Naruto and Nagi ran over and gripped his shoulders, grinning. They then looked at each other and decked him, knocking him on his ass.

"Don't you ever do something so stupid again!" Naruto shouted at Senjii.

"Fool!" Nagi chimed in.

They helped a shaken Senjii to his feet then hugged him. They turned to see the vast treasure around them.

"Fifty percent for Suna, twenty five percent for the Spirit Wolf Clan. Leaves twenty five percent for us." Nagi said.

Naruto nodded. "This should help our village out a lot as we're new." Senjii grinned, clutching his new swords, staring at the ornate markings that ran the length of the blades. They practically sang to him, happy to have a new owner.

* * *

_Konoha_

Shikamaru looked at his friends. Shino, Kiba, Ino, Chouji, Hinata. He breathed in deep. As of now there was no going back.

"You know what to do. Hinata, Ino, thank you for what you're doing, and what you will be doing. Your part is more dangerous than ours will be." Shikamaru said gratefully.

Hinata and Ino nodded. They all fell silent.

"Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate." Shikamaru said quietly. "We are Ninja of the Leaf. We will not be seen, we will not be heard. We are in control of our own destiny."

They left the room, heading for their positions.

The guard for the Konoha dungeon settled in, he had just taken over for his compatriot. It was midnight and there was no moon tonight. He shrugged and stretched. Another boring night of guard duty.

He bent down to pick up his backpack and found himself unable to stop. His head crashed directly into the ground, rendering him unconscious.

Shikamaru released the shadow hold on the man. He nodded to Shino who without breaking cover let his bugs swarm the lock, forcing it to click open. The bugs disappeared, finding their way in the darkness back to Shino.

Hinata came in over the radios they had on their heads. "The door is open, I can see inside now. Four chakra signatures between you and Asuma. One on this floor, three below, clustered together."

"Thanks mama bear." Kiba said, snickering lightly. Code names were necessary but he couldn't help himself, despite the situation.

Kiba and Chouji stayed outside while Ino, Shino and Shikamaru entered the Dungeon. They went down the corridor slowly.

"Around the corner." Hinata's voice came in over the earpiece.

Shikamaru snaked his shadow around the corner, grabbing the man. He made the man run into the wall, hard. He passed out immediately.

The three of them walked around the corner, over the man. They spied the stairwell, and descended.

"There's a desk, one sitting, two standing around to a side. One is smoking." Hinata said.

Ino pulled on an ANBU mask, allowing only her eyes to be seen. Pulling the cloak around her and the hood up, she walked around the corridor. She approached the guards without them making much note of her presence. After all, she was ANBU, they were ANBU, and this was deep within a high security prison.

Shino's bugs grabbed the one on the right, Shikamaru's shadow the one on the left. Ino caught the eyes of the one sitting down and she slipped into his mind, wiping it. It was a nasty trick, one that she had been taught to never use except in battle. By accident any member of her clan could wipe someone's mind. But they were more geared towards information gathering. The man lolled back in his chair, drooling, nothing more than a vegetable now.

Shikamaru has his guard muffle the other guards screams with his hand, while the bugs drained his chakra rendering him unconscious. Then he forced him to knock himself out with a staff. It took two hits, his head was hard.

Ino grabbed the keys from the belt of the guard sitting at his desk and tossed them to Shikamaru. He caught them mid stride and went straight for Asuma's cell. He opened it to see his sensei on the floor propped weakly against a wall. Bruises and matted blood adorned his face.

Shikamaru cursed and walked over, grabbing one arm and lifting Asuma to his feet bodily. Asuma looked at Shikamaru through his swollen eyes and grunted. As they walked out, Asuma pointed at the cell door opposite. "A-Anko."

Shikamaru adjusted his plan slightly, which he always allowed for, and nodded to Ino to open Anko's cell. She however was in no better condition. She was unclothed, spreadeagled, suspended in the air upside down with her arms bound by chains to the near side of the room, and her legs to the far side of the room. Her back was adorned with welts and cuts, blood dripping freely down onto the floor. Puddles of it had congealed.

Ino bit back her curse and motioned Shino over. He too seemed shaken, but he directed his bugs to eat through her chains. They swarmed the chains around her ankles and wrists. Ino positioned herself to catch Anko and did when the bugs succeeded.

Anko was not conscious at all.

Ino put her on her back and bent forward, pumping chakra to her legs to carry the weight. With a nod to Shikamaru they raced as fast as they could out of the Dungeon.

Once outside, they felt the cold night air hit them with a blast. Chouji and Kiba nodded at them and took point as they raced down the street, heading for the west gate. It took a full minute.

As they approached Chouji saw the normal two guards on that gate standing in the middle of the road facing away from them. Looking for danger from the outside not from within. Silently he transformed into his meat tank and began to roll. Kiba performed a Gatsuga on Chouji from behind, sending him flying at impossible speeds towards the guards.

They never saw it coming. He impacted them with so much force that they were unconscious before they hit the ground. All of this was done with only the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Not a scream not a shout went up. Nothing to raise an alarm.

"Ino, trade Anko to Shino." Shikamaru ordered. "Thanks for your help, now get back home and remember you know nothing. When you are questioned, and you will be, you were asleep. Fix your memories."

Ino nodded. Of course with her sensei broken out of jail and her teammates missing, she will be questioned. But her father would not allow her to be held without proof, he did have some clout on the council, and once she cleaned up her memories of tonight a little bit, there would be nothing to link her.

Hinata likewise removed her headset and walked calmly back home. As far as anyone knew, the heiress was fast asleep in her room. And that was what the Hyuuga clan would attest to.

Shikamaru watched Ino leave and then nodded to the others.

"Let's get to the Forest of Death as fast as we can. We have until morning, maybe, before the escape is discovered. I want us well hidden before that. There are a few old underground bunkers we will be staying in. My family does the care-taking for those grounds and no one else but my father and I know that they are there."

With one last heave of Asuma onto his back, Shikamaru took off, with Shino carrying Anko, Chouji and Kiba following. Naruto's Army had officially gone rogue.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

* Usually it takes me 3-4 weeks to write a chapter, another few days for my beta to go through it and us to polish it. I wish I could get it done faster but it's ..sigh... challenging.

* Many thanks to Joshua again for excellent beta-ing over the 4th of July Weekend.

* Guys, thanks for all the reviews. :) Nice to see someone likes what you spend time doing...

* For anyone wondering about their characters, patience young jedi, see it you will, in time.

* A commenter who shall remain nameless, said my story has a lot of ships...just to share the joke, he meant ships as in boats... not relation-ships... sigh. My readers are funny...

* Just a lil note/hint. Does anyone really think the Konoha Nin, with their will of fire, would abandon their village so easily. Look what it took for Naruto and Sakura to leave... _Vive le résistance!_

_* I just couldn't resist settling the Ninja vs Pirate debate.. and these were ZOMBIE pirates vs Ninja...lol. thanks for indulging me..._


	20. Chapter 20 : Paths

**Chapter 20**

Paths

_Tengoku_

Inari threw the shuriken at the target for the hundredth time, his fingers releasing the weapon at the perfect apex of his swing, spinning it with a flick towards the closest he had come to dead center so far today. He glanced towards the other students in this section of the training field. There were maybe ten, eleven other students who had gotten this far in the chambers. It had been a grueling couple of months, but Inari had, with fierce determination, kept pace with the top students in the academy.

Tenchi had remarked to him once that his resolve was second to only one student he had ever had. Inari smiled at that thought, bringing another shuriken to his palm, ready to strike. His goal was to be a ninja like Naruto was, and he was well on his way.

Today though, today was special.

He looked around again at the other students, and saw it; the thoughtfulness in their eyes. Today the decision had to be made. Inari himself thought he knew which way he wanted to go, but maybe after the demonstrations today…

Tenchi walked over to his top twelve students, having watched them practice with targets for the past hour.

"Gather round," he said quietly. As one they stopped training and formed a line in front of their Sensei. He appraised each one of them, looking into their eyes one at a time.

"Today you will decide which martial art path you will walk down. At the start of the program, we told you that we have many different styles here; the way of the Ninja, the way of the Samurai, the art of Lucha Libre, Mabry's style of street fighting." He paused at the excited chatter of some of the students.

"Now I asked you to research these styles in the library, as well as any other, and I repeat, ANY other style that you might be interested in. Even if we do not have a teacher here who can be your sensei, we might be able to find you one. Both myself and Mabry have an extensive network of connections and friends."

"First though, we are going to have a series of display matches to show the strengths of each style so you can fully understand. Head on over to the practice field on the other side of the tower. I've gathered all the other students there as well for this demonstration."

"Hai sensei!" they all shouted as one, and turned to go in that direction.

* * *

"You ready for this?" Jiraiya asked. He had requested several of Naruto's clones to come assist with this demonstration. All of the students had gathered on some temporary bleachers that Guerrera had constructed. They hadn't realized that the entire village would come out. There was very little by way of entertainment here in Tengoku, Jiraiya thought wistfully. So he supposed a martial arts demonstration would be something out of the ordinary for the small populace that they had.

The Naruto clones nodded with large identical grins plastered on their faces. Mabry acted as the announcer for the demonstration.

"Citizens and students of Tengoku! Welcome to this important rite of passage for our top students. The day that they choose their fighting style. To that end we have several demonstrations for you today. First up, Jiraiya will demonstrate _Ninjutsu_!" Mabry nodded and got out of the way.

The first Naruto clone entered the center of the field and faced Jiraiya who smiled at the boy and charged.

A flurry of kicks and punches, which Naruto was hard pressed to block and avoid. As a clone he was more fragile than a normal opponent, but that would suit their purposes here just fine. Jiraiya wasn't world renown for no reason. Within a few seconds he landed a punch to Naruto's gut that exploded him into a puff of smoke. This was greeted by applause from the gathered crowd.

Jiraiya smiled and waved at the crowd, enjoying the attention. Mabry chuckled and spoke loudly.

"Ninjutsu is the most famous of the Eastern martial arts. Although in most territories, it is broken into three general separate categories. Taijutsu which is hand to hand combat, Ninjutsu which are special chakra attacks, and Genjutsu which are illusionary attacks."

"Jiraiya, the famous toad-sage, who is a master of all three, displayed for us what was a demonstration of Taijutsu." With a nod to Jiraiya, a squad of five Naruto clones charged. Jiraiya made only a single hand-seal before he spit out a lake of oil, which trapped them. He then launched himself into the air, arching his neck and then snapping forward, spat out fireballs at each Naruto clone. It was a flashy move meant to showcase the chakra attacks more than anything else. Each clone disappeared with a puff of smoke.

"There are also some other, rarer techniques, such as the ability to summon animals or objects that you forge a contract with. Jiraiya has the contract with Toads, which I think you all already know. Thank you for the demonstration Jiraiya!"

The crowd gathered was very appreciative and cheered wildly as Jiraiya walked off the field. The students were all smiles looking on, some of them even more sure of their choice now.

"Next up, we have Guerrera! We all know the friendly and kind hearted mason and blacksmith. His combat skills lie in Lucha Libre, a grappling and wrestling art. What many of you don't know is that he defeated our very own Naruto in a Kumite a little over a year ago with those skills, so don't dismiss this fighting form."

Guerrera cracked his neck muscles and looked intently at the Naruto clone standing before him. He could see the same energy as he did in that match a year ago, but something was different. This Naruto was not just energetic, he was confident. The Naruto clone ran towards Guerrera, who also ran towards him. He wondered at the strategy as it was just a clone and would burst upon impact.

As he thought, they collided in a puff of smoke. What he didn't expect though was the fist that suddenly clipped his chin. His head snapped back at the impact, it was a good punch. He looked down to see a Naruto clone leaping into the air in front of him. Guerrera realized that Naruto must have come from under the ground, right where he had impacted with the other clone. They used the puff of smoke to hide the attack. _Clever_, he thought as he grabbed the Naruto in midair.

The crowd gasped as Guerrera turned and twisted Naruto then leapt with him in a bear lock into the air. It was a perfect arc as they came sailing back to the earth, Naruto's head slightly higher than Guererra's as he held him from behind. It was a move that would kill any man. It puffed the clone into oblivion.

Two more clones rushed Guerrera. The giant man's leap flipped over the first one as he heel kicked the second. He landed on his back, flipped over and swept his legs to take the first Naruto off his feet. Naruto leapt over that attack and came down in an axe kick to Guerrera's head.

Guerrera caught the foot and twisted, pulling it towards his face but pushing with his own legs against Naruto's body. It was a perfect arm lock, except Guerrera was not going for a tap out. With a twist he pulled the arm out of the socket with a crack and the clone exploded into smoke. It was a brutality he would use in a life or death fight, and he wanted the students to see what was possible.

The crowd cheered again as he got up, the applause coming from some of the students showing that his point had been made. More of Naruto's clones grinned though and rushed the giant.

As the fight continued, Ali and Yoshi walked over to where Mabry, Tenchi and Jiraiya were watching. Old man Tora was also looking on at the fight with glee in his eyes at each punch. Tsunade hadn't bothered to come, busy with something at the Hospital.

"Why have you not asked my clan to demonstrate?" Ali asked, clearly upset. His eyes flashed dangerously from one man to the next.

Mabry looked at him and shrugged, pointing at Jiraiya. "We didn't think your clan would teach your martial art to outsiders," he said.

Ali sniffed. "We will not. But that does not mean that we would shy away from a demonstration." He turned to look at the crowd. "Besides, who's to say if anyone wants to join our clan? We'd certainly consider any interested parties."

Jiraiya smiled nodded. Ali huffed up and turned to watch as Guerrera dove and clotheslined two Naruto's at once in a move that would certainly remove an enemy's head (if he wasn't a clone).

"I , Yoshi, would certainly like to demonstrate my style as well," Yoshi said, then looked confused at his own words, then smiled at himself.

Tenchi was a little taken aback, but asked anyway. "What fighting style do you know Yoshi? I,...we…never knew you could fight."

Yoshi looked at him and nodded vigorously. "Yes yes, I will fight, thanks for asking."

"But what's your style Yoshi?" Tenchi asked again but Yoshi was preoccupied taking notes of the battle with Guerrera and the last of Naruto clones.

A few seconds later and a series of smoke puffs, it was over. The crowd cheered relentlessly at the display. Naruto's clones didn't use any chakra attacks, preferring to keep it a Taijutsu battle, so Guerrera had the advantage even though he was outnumbered.

"Thank you Guerrera for that spirited display!" Mabry shouted to applause.

"Now since the Naruto clones assigned for this battle were all destroyed, Tenchi our Samurai will fight Ali, the leader of our Spirit Wolf guild and master of _Kalarippayattu_."

The two men walked into the field and drew their swords. Tenchi a traditional, but ornate samurai sword, Ali his urumi. The crowd was dead silent. Several heartbeats went by; then it began in a clash of steel. Tenchi stabbed forward only to be batted away by Ali whose uruni curved around the sword, edging towards Tenchi's hand guard. Tenchi spun and stepped right, the attack missing him by inches. He swung his sword parallel to the ground, low, in an attack that would remove a lesser man's legs. Ali leapt over it and reached out with his own sword, snaking it towards Tenchi's chest in a corkscrew attack.

Tenchi bent backwards at the waist and slapped it away with the broadside of his sword. Ali landed and pulled back for another attack. Tenchi snapped back up straight and sheathed his sword in one fluid motion. His right shoulder leaned towards Ali, and his left leg pushed backwards into the soil.

Ali's eyes grew wide. A sword drawing _Batoujutsu_ in the middle of a fight? He stretched his sword in an arc towards Tenchi's head, but knew a second later that was a mistake.

Tenchi launched forward impossibly fast, drawing his sword mid-stride, his forward motion adding momentum and speed to the draw. The resulting attack would have been devastating, but Ali drew his small dagger with his left hand and blocked the attack at the last second. The dagger shattered a second later, but by then Ali had moved fully out of the way and Tenchi had passed him already. With a sigh while shaking out the numbness of his hand, he looked at Tenchi's eyes, which were serious, yet not menacing.

"You know, if that had connected you would have taken my head," Ali said quietly.

Tenchi shrugged. "If you were fighting at full speed instead of keeping your true power secret from all of us, I doubt I'd have gotten even this close." With a wink though, he added. "Maybe."

Ali laughed loudly. "One day we should have a full out battle. One swordsman to another."

Tenchi grinned and nodded. "Deal."

Mabry's voice announcing the end of the display brought cheers from the crowd. The two combatants walked off the field. Mabry turned to Yoshi. "You ready Yoshi? To go up against me?"

Yoshi smiled and nodded. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged off his lab coat. Those close enough to see were stunned. Under his clothes, Yoshi was rippling, lean muscle. Not an ounce of fat existed on the man's body. Various scars adorned his flesh, some were probably from lab experiments, but most were definitely from blades.

He stretched then walked out into the middle of the field, waiting on a stunned Mabry.

Mabry cleared his throat and announced. "The last match today is myself- the Magnificent Milford Mabry- and my street fighting style, against…Yoshi!"

The crowd cheered and laughed simultaneously. They all knew Yoshi. To think the man could fight was...well preposterous. Wasn't it? But the lean hard looking man in the middle of the field certainly appeared different from the Yoshi they all knew.

Mabry looked at the man before him and knew, instantly, that this was not going to be a piece of cake. Yoshi then smiled up at him, "I left a bottle simmering, let's get on with it yes?"

Yoshi struck first, an impossible kick, right at Mabry's head. Mabry blocked it with his left forearm. He snapped his fist forward in a straight punch, but Yoshi wasn't there anymore. He had sidestepped and pulling his leg back kicked out and hit Mabry in the ribs. Yoshi brought his leg back, foot straight up in the air, balancing on one leg looking on as Mabry stumbled back from the blow.

"Shit…Savate." Jiraiya mumbled. "Mabry's in for a hell of a time." Tenchi nodded. That particular style was meant to keep some distance between the opponents, while Mabry was a close combat street fighter. But Savate was also a type of street fighting, so he personally didn't think it would be that unbalanced a contest.

Mabry had the size and reach on Yoshi. The man who had once fought the Third Hokage to a standstill took the attacks from the smaller Yoshi, but he felt every kick. Yoshi may have been small but his hits had major power behind them.

Mabry suddenly rolled towards Yoshi and came up in an uppercut, catching Yoshi off guard. He flew backwards. Many thought the fight was over, but Yoshi flipped in midair and landed on his feet. He seemed to be happy to taste the blood in his mouth, a feral grin spread across his face. Keeping low he burst forward, his legs coming over in a crescent kick. Mabry crossed his forearms overhead to block and felt his feet sink into the ground slightly from the impact.

Yoshi bent at the waist, grabbing Mabry's shirt. In one fluid motion he arced his legs, bringing them around and in between the two of them. He kicked out and twisted backwards, sending Mabry stumbling backwards.

Yoshi landed on his feet and lunged forward faster than a heartbeat.

Mabry was on the defensive, the flurry of high kicks becoming faster than most of the spectators could see. The crowd cheered at the onslaught, the high level of skills that both men were displaying. Mabry finally decided he'd had enough of being on the defensive. He allowed a solid kick to his abdomen to land, taking the hit. He grabbed Yoshi's ankle and pulled him off balance, his fist raced towards Yoshi's face…

An alarm went off and Yoshi dodged, standing up straight. "Ah! It's ready… gotta go, nice fight. Statistically though your guard is consistently lower on the left side so you should raise it three inches. See you at dinner." He ran off to his lab, leaving everyone speechless, but…not all that surprised.

Mabry rolled his head back in out loud roaring laughter. "Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our demonstration! Thank you for coming out!"

The crowd cheered appreciatively and began to disperse.

Tenchi smiled and walked up to his top students. "OK, so you've seen what we have to offer. Let's talk about your choices now."

* * *

_Konoha_

_Forest of Death_

"How is he?" Chouji asked Shikamaru. The candles they had lit in the room flickered as if in response to the mood in the room. It had been two days since the rescue and their situation while tenuous, seemed to be settling down, at least somewhat.

The ANBU and ROOT had searched the area above their bunker the day before. A very thorough search according to Shino. His bugs had monitored the activity discretely. The entrance to this facility was hidden perfectly. An extremely low powered seal camouflaged the door as just another rock in the middle of a river. Any scents were washed away by the water, and the power of the seal couldn't be detected from the shore. Konoha had forgotten this place's existence generations ago.

However, Shikamaru's family had been in charge of the grounds for those generations, and so had not forgotten. Of course those that knew now were just Shikamaru himself and his father.

"His fever broke, just resting now," he told Chouji. Both Asuma and Anko lay on cots, blankets over them. Anko was covered in the injury cream that Hinata had given Shikamaru before the rescue to use on Asuma. It was clear the moment they were safely hidden that Anko needed it more. Her body battered and bruised to an extent that shocked them all. Her pallor suggested major blood loss and dehydration. Grimly, Shikamaru realized she could die at any moment. It was only her will to live that kept her broken body functioning.

Asuma was better off. He was beaten, but hadn't suffered the abuses that Anko had. Apparently Danzo held a hatred for Anko as the former apprentice of Orochimaru. They had both been unconscious since they arrived.

Shikamaru sighed and stood up from his position kneeling besides Asuma's bed. The plan he had put together had them staying here for months, using the bunker as a base of operations to perform guerrilla tactics against Danzo, and plot an assassination. Asuma would probably be alright without medical assistance. But Anko…

"Shino. Kiba." He called out across the bunker. The bug user walked over, a map of Konoha in his hand, while the dog clan boy just tilted his head slightly towards them, not leaving his guard post near the entrance, but paying attention nonetheless.

"We need to get Anko to a doctor. A really good one." Shikamaru said somberly. "She does not seem to be getting better."

Shino nodded. "That's correct. Her fever has not broken and her breathing seems even shallower. If this rate of decline continues she could have days, maybe at most a week to live."

Kiba grunted. "There isn't a doctor in Konoha that we can trust to treat her. So where does that leave us?"

Shikamaru frowned. "The closest friendly village would be Suna."

"Friendly?" Chouji asked incredulously.

"As friendly as we're going to get within a hundred miles." Shikamaru said matter of factly. "We have to hope that they will help. They helped in the Sasuke retrieval, the Kazekage there considers Naruto a friend. Maybe things haven't gotten so bad that we can't turn to them for medical assistance. It's the only chance Anko has."

"How?" Kiba asked quietly. They all turned to look at him, the sadness in his voice. "At full speed me and Akamaru could probably get there in three days. But by the time we find a medic who's willing to help and return, Anko could die."

"And we can't move her either." Shino chimed in. "It's a miracle she survived the escape."

Shikamaru sighed. "Kiba, you will need to move faster than you ever have before. If we assume she has one week left, and we can't say for sure because none of us are medics, then the latest you can return is seven days from now, probably six."

"Giving you three days to get there, a half a day to find a medic, and another three days to get back with them. I surmise the medic would not be able to move as quickly as you can. Also factoring in the need to avoid ROOT and ANBU patrols." Shikamaru concluded.

Kiba grunted in exasperation and cracked his neck, walking over to the group. Shino automatically shifted close to the entrance, taking over as guard.

"Well if one of us can do it, it would have to be me," he said. Akamaru quietly yelped from on top Kiba's head. "Us." Kiba agreed with a small smile.

He pulled out a small compass and compared it to the map on the wall. "The only way will be a straight line. I'll have to rely on speed to avoid the ANBU. As little rest as I can manage, probably popping soldier pills along the way."

Shikamaru nodded in agreement. It bothered him. This was barely a plan. It was desperation.

"Good luck," he said to Kiba grimly.

Kiba scoffed. "Luck? Ninja rely on skill. See you in a week." He looked to Shino who cocked his head.

"My bugs say the way is clear at least five hundred yards in every direction. Beyond that I do not know." Shino said stoicly.

Kiba nodded and with a breath he and Akamaru vanished through the entrance.

* * *

_Konoha_

_Hokage's Tower_

Danzo's fist slammed into the desk. "How can there not be any trace?" Spittle formed on his lips, his unbound eye bulging in its socket. The search for the escaped prisoners and their rescuers had been futile. They had vanished like ghosts in the night. Or more appropriately, a fart in the wind.

The ROOT member in front of him remained emotionless. His two compatriots were similarly stoic. Off to the side was Ino and a few ANBU officers. Ino was there in her capacity as a mind reader for the Hokage. The plan Shikamaru had made months ago to move her into this position had been successful. Danzo did not trust anyone, and clearly felt that she was inferior enough to him as to not pose a threat.

Ino was furious at being dismissed, but glad the plan had worked. Now she had access to the inner workings of this office, even if it did mean she had to be more careful.

"There was a faint scent near the Forest of Death training grounds, but it proved to be a phantom trail. They have made their escape completely," the ROOT member said in a dead pan manner.

Danzo furiously threw a Kunai and embedded it in the left eye of the messenger. The man slumped to the ground to the shock of the ANBU present, and Ino. The other ROOT members gave no indication that they'd even noticed.

Danzo swore violently. "Too many think they can escape this village. Our borders are closed but perhaps another public demonstration is in order. This time nothing will deter the example from being made."

He nodded to the ANBU next to Ino. They went outside and retrieved a Konoha nin whose hands had been bound. With a start Ino recognized her old teacher, Iruka–Sensei. His face was bloodied and his hitaite had been removed.

"You will pay for this Danzo. Somehow you will pay." Iruka spat out. Ino did her best to remain emotionless as her mind raced.

"Fool," Danzo said, reaching across the Hokage's desk to backhand Iruka. "You think to stand against me? To teach the academy students to rebel against me?"

Iruka spat blood onto the floor. "You're a tyrant Danzo. And tyrants always meet a gruesome end."

Danzo laughed. "In one week we shall see who meets a gruesome end. You will be executed on the steps of this tower for your blasphemy one week from today. I am your Emperor, your leader, your Hokage. I will not be defied!"

It was Iruka's turn to laugh. "You will be reviled, not just defied. Kill me as you wish you coward. You will pay for your crimes soon enough."

Danzo waved his hand dismissing them all. "That's some tongue you have there,_ Iruka._" He sneered. "Remove it for him," he told the last ROOT member as he was leaving.

* * *

_Sunagakure  
Three days later_

The noise was deafening in the Kazekage's office. The argument between the two Spirit Wolf clan members and Kankuro over the division of treasure; The retelling of Nagi's and Senjii's trials in the cave; The questions over the two immaculate swords. Finally, Gaara couldn't take the noise anymore.

"Silence!" he shouted, his voice booming in the stone walled office. Everyone grew quiet.

"I am glad you all made it back. And the treasure you found is truly amazing. Our curators will have their work cut out for them." He then glared at Kankuro and the Spirit Wolf brothers.

"Take your bickering outside to decide which treasures are kept by whom. I care not. Unless you find something that looks important to Sunagakure heritage of course Kankuro," Gaara said matter-of-factly.

The three men walked outside and their muffled voices could be heard through the heavy oak door. Random gold coins had fallen out of the shoes of one of the brothers, prompting another tirade from Kankuro on fair dealings.

Gaara sighed and turned to Naruto. "So your treasure hunt was a success in more ways than one." He stared intently at the swords in Senjii's hands.

Senjii was cradling them like newborn babies. Now that they all had a chance to really look at them, they were beautiful. Slightly shorter than normal katana, the twin kodachi were gleaming in the sunlight. The scabbards were black, inlaid with gold and jade. The hilts were tightly wound silk with jade stoppers in the handles. They would be at home decorating any member of royalty's mantle. However the most surprising thing was the blades.

They were black as night and sharp as if newly forged. Yet, they seemed to have a glow, almost imperceptible to the human eye.

"Those are magnificent," Temari said quietly.

Senjii beamed with pride. "Yes they are."

Naruto looked at his friends. "This was a good trip. Senjii found what he came for and we are leaving with some profit. I… I am sorry about the ninja who died though."

Gaara nodded. "They were ninja of Suna. They died as they lived, serving our village. Their families will be taken care of I assure you."

"Good I'm glad," Naruto said. "Now I need to talk to you about something Gaara." His voice suddenly getting very serious. All conversation in the room stopped and eyes turned towards Naruto curiously.

"My friends have been trying to keep a secret from me, not very well. I understand why they did it, thinking I'd be confused or rush off," Naruto said plainly. Senjii and Nagi were startled. The only thing they were keeping from Naruto was…

"I heard about the expansion of Konoha. The defeat of Iwa. The massacre at Death Valley," Naruto said, his eyes gone cold. "My village may be on the other side of the world, but people talk, and I have so many clones all over that I was bound to hear about it sooner or later."

"Naruto I…" Nagi began.

Naruto held up his hand. "It's OK. It's my old village, and everyone thought I'd rush off to try to... well do something I guess? Honestly I'm not sure what I could or would do. Danzo is in charge, and the village went to war. It's not what the old man wanted for his village, but he's gone and other people are running the show now."

Naruto shrugged. "It's got nothing to do with me. My village is all the way on the other side of the world now. My life is not in Konoha anymore."

He turned to Gaara. "However, you are my friend. Your family," he said turning to Temari, "are my friends. So if you need help or anything, contact me, and I will come running. Someone who abandons his friends is less than trash."

Gaara nodded at him. "We too had decided not to broach the subject. Our council is pushing us to fortify our defenses for when Danzo is ready to move again. We estimate that to be two years. He has to recoup his losses from the war with Iwa, and fighting us in the desert at less than half strength would be suicide. When the time comes, Suna will stand against Danzo. We will not lose."

Naruto smiled. "I know you won't. My offer stands."

Gaara extended his hand and Naruto plainly ignored it and hugged his friend. Gaara hugged him back, then they parted and coughed as one.

"If you plan to leave today, wait until sunset. It's far easier to travel in the desert at night." Gaara said.

Naruto sighed and then turned to his team mates. "I say we get an early dinner, and then start heading back home. It's almost evening. Who says _ramen_!"

* * *

Later that evening Naruto, Senjii and Nagi watched as the Spirit Wolf Clan members walked next to the camels they had bought. The camel's themselves looked distraught at the weight that was in high bags on their backs.

"Four camels, more than a few million in gold and jewels. Even with Suna taking half, and the Spirit Wolf brothers there taking the other half, Tengoku will have enough money to run for a year." Senjii said out loud.

Naruto nodded thoughtfully. "When we get back, I'll ask Tenchi-Sensei to teach me about the finances. How do we spend money to run a village? I can think of some basic ideas. Salaries for our warriors, food. But there probably is a lot more that I don't know."

Nagi and Senjii smiled. Naruto sure was taking his role as village leader seriously. The two of them had apologized profusely for not telling him about Konoha when they heard about it back in Tengoku from shopkeepers. The general consensus had been that Naruto needed to be protected.

The two Spirit Wolf Clan members muttered as they grew closer about the negotiating tactics of a certain puppet user. Kankuro had followed Gaara's orders and made sure the priceless artifacts were kept in Sunagakure. He'd also tied up one of the brothers and threatened to keep him as part of the fifty percent deal if they didn't stop giving him so much trouble.

"Hey Naruto," Nagi called his attention. He pointed towards the sunset. "Do you guys see that?"

They all turned and looked. A small black dot was approaching very, very fast over the sand dunes. As they watched, within a minute it looked like it had traveled more than a mile.

"It's a ninja," Senjii said negligibly. "Probably a Suna messenger or something. It's coming from the East, we need to head West, so we should probably get going." He started to walk off and the Spirit Wolf brothers followed suit.

"Wait," Naruto said. "There's something about that ninja." He didn't move from his spot, watching intently as the dot became an outline. It took a few more seconds before Naruto could make out the full shape of the body.

"Kiba!" he exclaimed. They all saw as the boy became more visible and were shocked. He was racing at full speed, his dog in his arms. Blood streamed freely from a cut on his shoulder behind him. His face showing signs of strain, then shock and recognition as he saw Naruto.

He stopped just shy of running into Naruto seconds later and collapsed to one knee. "Na…Naruto?" he managed to squeeze out between gasps of breath.

"Kiba!" Naruto said and hugged the boy, one of his friends from Konoha. "What, did you run all the way here from Konoha?"

Kiba nodded and fell back to both knees. Senjii sprang forward with a water bottle which Kiba drank hungrily. He stopped and offered the rest to Akamaru, pouring it down the puppies throat.

"Naruto, what…what are you doing here?" Kiba asked incredulously. Of all the people he expected or hoped to see, Naruto hadn't even crossed his mind.

"Never mind that, what's wrong?" Naruto asked seriously, seeing the wound and the fatigue on his friend.

"I need to find a doctor. We rescued Anko from Danzo's dungeon, but she is not regaining consciousness. She's… we think she's dying," Kiba said.

Naruto's eyes grew hard. "Dying? What did Danzo do to her?"

Kiba shook his head. "Unimaginable things…I…I can't say. I don't want to. I'm sorry Naruto but I need to find a doctor. We'll catch up some other time." Kiba made to get up but his legs had cramped and he needed to pause to rub them.

"Hold on Kiba," Naruto said reaching out for him. "Senjii, fast as you can find Gaara and tell him we need a medic-nin, here, in five minutes." Senjii nodded and disappeared with his signature quick step.

Naruto formed ten clones in a puff of smoke. He turned to the Spirit Wolf Brothers. "Tengoku needs that delivery. My clones will help you get it there." The brothers looked at him and the one on the left, Rasheed, spoke up.

"If it's a fight you're headed for, the Spirit Wolf clan does not run away."

Naruto shook his head. "No, Tengoku does need that money to reach the village safely. _That's_ your responsibility right now."

They looked at Naruto carefully then nodded in acquiescence and turned to head West. It would be a month long trip back to the mountains.

Kiba looked confused as Naruto ordered people around. He stared at Naruto carefully, and saw changes. Aside from the loss of his hideous orange clothes and some very nice new white ones, this Naruto seemed…serious. A bit harder even. Kiba had recognized that same look in most of his friends. That was the look of someone who's seen battle and people die. But had Naruto been through what he and his friends been through? Kiba had a lot of questions and no time to ask them.

"We'd need to travel fast. Shino, Shikamaru and Chouji are in a secret place. The ANBU saw me running from a distance and a long range shuriken nicked me as I ran. They'd never catch up to me from that distance," he said proudly.

Naruto nodded. A second later Senjii, Gaara, Kankuro, Temari and Baki appeared with another Suna nin who Naruto assumed was the Medic.

"Naruto," Gaara began. "I thought you said mere hours ago that this wasn't your fight."

Naruto smiled and shrugged. "Still isn't. But I can't abandon my friends." He made four more clones. Each one went behind Nagi, Senjii and the medic-nin clutching a bag.

"Now the fastest way I can think of to get there is to Hiraishin over and over again. You guys can't keep up if I do that, well except for you Senjii," Naruto didn't let Senjii interrupt. "…but when we reach I'm going to be exhausted and we might meet some resistance. So you guys would have to fight."

Nagi and Senjii nodded at the logic of it. Kiba grumbled. "I can keep up with whatever speed you go at baka. Shikamaru and the others are hidden in the Forest of Death. I'll show you where when we get in the forest, but we need to get past the ANBU Patrols."

Naruto looked at Kiba for a second then laughed. "You have no idea how long it's been since someone called me that!" He grinned. "Gosh I missed you guys. Let's go."

His clones let Senjii and Nagi clamber onto their backs in a piggy back style. The Sand siblings looked on in amazement…and slight discomfort at the sight. It was…unsettling.

Kiba protested but was scooped up in one of the Naruto clones arms. With a final nod, they disappeared in white flashes. Gaara and his siblings saw them reappear for a second a mile away to the East only to disappear again.

"How is he doing that?" Temari asked in wonder. "I've read about the Hiraishin, doesn't he need to have a seal to teleport to?"

Gaara shook his head. "When he told me about his training, he said Jiraiya emphasized visualizing your target. He realized that he could jump anywhere by picturing the seal there. So he can go as far as he can see clearly."

"That's not the Hiraishin then… it's something else, something new!" Temari exclaimed.

"That's insane!" Kankuro said.

"That's Naruto," Gaara replied.

* * *

Kiba was astounded. They were popping into and out of existence at a ridiculous speed. It was like blinking.

Blink…sand dune.

Blink…rocks.

Blink…sand dune.

Blink…edge of the desert.

If he wasn't part of it, he'd have thought it was impossible. The distance Naruto was covering in seconds, not hours, was incredible. Still, Kiba wondered how long he could keep this up. He estimated it would still take a couple hours to get there. Could Naruto keep up this '_Hiraishin_' as he called it, for that long?

He hoped they made it back in time. Anko really didn't look good when he'd left.

* * *

It took them just under twenty four hours to reach the Forest of Death. It was pitch black, a quarter moon in the night sky. They'd been moving so fast that they hadn't seen any patrols. Naruto had to slow down when he reached a forested area because he couldn't see that far ahead, but they still appeared and disappeared faster than anyone could follow.

Soon they were at the edge of the Forest of Death and Naruto stopped. The clone holding Kiba puffed into smoke, too exhausted to continue. The others looked like they were about to as well.

Naruto himself fell to one knee panting. This wasn't as bad as when Tenchi had made him move those rocks all day using the Hiraishin, but it had been a while since he'd done it.

Senjii, Nagi and the medic-nin clambered off of the Naruto clones who all puffed out of existence. The medic-nin's face was pale.

"Tha... that anyone c-could do something like th-that…" he stammered out. "Maybe the Fourth Hokage…"

Naruto stood up and bent at the waist, resting his hands on his knees. "Yeah that was my dad. This isn't the same…but it's all I got for now." He blew out a tired sigh heavily.

Kiba stood rooted to the spot. _The Fourth was Naruto's dad? What? How was that secret kept from everyone! He'd never have been run out of the village if people knew that!_

Kiba shook his head to clear it. _Not now. Now we need to get to Anko._

"There," he pointed. "We follow that stream. It becomes a river a couple of miles in, and there's a special entrance." He moved forward, but then froze in place, sniffing the air. Akamaru growled. Kiba turned and threw a Kunai towards a tree. It hit with a thunk.

"Ahhh…" a voice whispered from behind them. "Is that where you've been hiding? Danzo-sama will be pleased."

A face appeared out of a tree trunk inches away from Kiba's Kunai, slowly followed by the rest of the body. Kiba cursed, it was one of the ROOT bastards who had been prevalent since Danzo took over.

"Since there are so many of you, I'll just go get some backup and come back and, maybe you can join the teacher for the fun tomorrow." He giggled perversely and shunshin'd in a swirl of leaves. Before he could finish the shunhin though Senjii was behind him and impaled the ghostly image that existed mid-shunshin with his twin Kodachi. The man flickered back into existence before them, the Kodachi sticking through his stomach. He gurgled in disbelief.

"Wha...?" he died on the blades, slipping off them into the soft ground. Nagi walked over to the body.

"I'll hide it." He grabbed a foot and dragged it into the large shadow of an oak tree. He sank into the shadows, pulling the body down with him. He reemerged a few seconds later, without the body.

Naruto nodded and looked back at the stream. "Didn't know you could do that Nagi…creepy."

They jumped into the water and headed downstream as fast as they could.

* * *

"They're coming," Shino told the others. "My bugs say Kiba brought four others. One, is familiar… I don't know what they mean, they're buzzing with excitement. The level of Chakra is like when…"

The entrance burst open and the first person inside was…

"Naruto!" Chouji, Shino and Shikamaru all exclaimed at the same time. Naruto was closely followed by Kiba, and three other ninja.

The medic-nin took one look at the room, the two cots and ran to Anko. He cursed loudly and scrambled in his bag. He pulled out instruments and syringes and began to examine Anko, injecting her with a few liquids.

Naruto saw her body when the medic removed the blanket to check her. Shikamaru and the others hadn't dared move her enough to dress her, leaving her under the blankets for propriety. But now with the blanket thrown back, Naruto and the others could see the marks. The bruises and cuts. Shikamaru had cleaned the blood off as best he could and applied the cream he had gotten from Hinata for Asuma. But it did nothing to hide the amount of damage.

Naruto grew angry, seething that something like this could be allowed to happen.

Shikamaru was stunned. Of all the people, he had not expected Naruto. He took in the newcomers quickly. The one with the swords stood like someone highly skilled. So did the dark skinned one with the dreadlocks. They looked like chunnin, possibly jounin, level ninja.

Naruto however, barely looked like his old self. This Naruto seemed, positively deadly. Of course the expression on his face at the sight of Anko may have skewed Shikamaru's insight at that moment.

"Naruto, it's good to see you," Shikamaru said quietly, breaking Naruto's intense concentration on the fast hands of the medic.

Naruto turned to Shikamaru and smiled. "It sure is! How's it been Shika?"

Shikamaru was taken aback by the change, Naruto was the same Naruto after all. He just had an added intensity.

"We've been managing," he replied. "What're you doing here?"

While Kiba filled in the others on how he fared, and found Naruto and his team, Naruto's mind drifted back to Anko and Asuma. Konoha was so different now. So changed by one man.

"Wait," Naruto interrupted. "What did that ROOT guy mean by, 'join the teacher'?"

Shikamaru's face paled slightly. "We have a system of getting information from outside using Shino's bugs. We only found out a little while ago. They're planning to execute Iruka-Sensei at noon tomorrow."

"What!" Naruto exclaimed. "Why?"

Shikamaru sighed. "The official story is that Iruka was teaching the students at the Academy the ways of the Third still. But I surmise he needed to have a show of authority to bring any dissenters into line. He rules by fear and needs to remind people of that."

Naruto paced exasperatedly. "We need to rescue him!"

Shikamaru nodded. "I agree. But Danzo may be expecting a rescue attempt. Security will be heavy. The guards will be experienced ANBU and ROOT agents. I have a plan that now that you're here maybe can actually succeed."

Naruto listened intently to Shikamaru's plan. He personally thought Shikamaru was the smartest guy he'd ever met. This plan was insane, and genius at the same time.

"I have some techniques that could probably improve your plan a little bit," Naruto added. "But after we've done it. What will you do?"

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked. They saw the medic cover back up Anko and start bandaging up her shoulder where her curse mark had been sliced off the skin.

"Will you stay in Konoha? You could come to my village. There you'd be safe. No hiding, no plots. We're now starting up but we've come a long way." Naruto said.

Shikamaru thought quietly for a second then shook his head. "No. Konoha is our home. We have family, friends. We will defend it. We will take it back from Danzo. There are several hidden bunkers like this in the forest. All over Konoha in fact. We will fight from here, until we can kill him and free Konoha."

Nods from Shino, Kiba and Chouji greeted Shikamaru's pledge.

Naruto nodded in understanding. He felt conflicted inside, but hid it as much as he could. Konoha was his first home, but he had a new one now. And Konoha had exiled him…but his friends needed help. Naruto didn't know what else to do, but he knew he could do this.

He would rescue Iruka-Sensei and take him back to Tengoku. Believe it!


	21. Chapter 21 : Guardians

**Chapter 21**

**Guardians**

"There it is!" Hikaru shouted out, pointing out the approaching island to Calamity. The two of them had been nearly inseparable since the pirate attack two weeks ago. That had become less frequent though as she had needed to step up her training regimen. Calamity had seen where her skills needed to be improved. Her arrows had limited stopping power, so she had asked her teammates for help. Sakura had explained chakra theory to her, and suggested that if she infused her arrows with chakra, they'd pack a bigger punch.

Kakashi had helped with the testing, and discovered that Calamity was a fire type. So she had been doing some basic chakra control exercises every day, just trying to find and form chakra. Kakashi told her it would be months or even a full year before she could push that chakra down into her weapons in any practical way.

Hikaru had taken to feeding a giant tiger that the circus troop had on board. Every day he would go down to the hold and take breakfast and dinner for the tiger, and talk to it. Calamity had overhead one of his conversations with the tiger who just lay on his paws watching Hikaru curiously. He was talking about his mother, and how his father and mother were separated. Not wanting to intrude, Calamity left before he knew she was there.

Now however, they were all up on deck, watching the Land of the Moon as their ship approached it rapidly.

"It looks magnificent!" Hiroka said breathlessly. And indeed it did. Sparkling white sandy beaches, crystal clear water and lush forest. It certainly seemed like an island paradise.

"Oh I'd love to go for a swim," Sakura said, her eyes taking in the scenery.

"Yosh! This is a very youthful place!" Lee said, grinning broadly.

"We'll have time for that soon enough," Kakashi said somberly. "Something is wrong though." He peered at the docks, not a single person was out. "With the large ship coming into dock, shouldn't there be vendors waiting to greet them? A welcoming committee maybe? But no, the entire place seems deserted."

The three girls then focused on what Kakashi brought to their attention. The docks were indeed deserted. Silently Sakura wished that the last of the Naruto clones hadn't popped a few days earlier. It was nice to spend time with her old teammate, even if it was just a clone, it was still him. But now, they were facing a highly probable battle situation, and Naruto had gotten very strong and his strength would be missed.

She glanced over at her teammates_. It's OK, we're strong too. And we've also got Kakashi and Lee. We'll handle this ourselves._

With her inner assurance firmly in place, she braced herself as the ship shuddered into dock.

A loud explosion echoed down to the docks. Kakashi turned to the Prince and his entourage who were coming down the ramp.

"You should stay on the ship Your Highness," he said, waving the entourage back.

"No," the Prince replied firmly, "My father will know what's going on. We will go to the Palace." The panic in his eyes was apparent though as a plume of smoke rose like a finger to the skies.

Kakashi glanced at the girls quickly. Calamity nodded and ran to the nearest building to their left. She grabbed onto a low hanging fire escape ladder and clambered up it, climbing her way swiftly to the rooftop. Once there she peered towards the source of the fire. The girls had already established between themselves that she had the sharpest eyesight, so she was the natural lookout.

"I see a battle!" she shouted down from the rooftop. "I can't make out who's fighting, but it's definitely by the gates of the palace!"

Kakashi nodded. "Stay high!" he shouted back up to her. He then turned to the Prince.

"Even if you wish to put yourself in danger, I insist you leave the Young Prince here. We're entering a battle zone."

Michiru gulped and directed one of his servants to take Hikaru back on to the ship. Kakashi watched the boy go, thinking of their next move simultaneously.

"Sakura, Hiroka. Take flanking positions on either side of the Prince's wagon. I will take lead twenty, twenty five feet in front. Lee! I want you with the Prince. Stay on that wagon." The girls nodded back at him. His lips thinned with anxiety behind his mask as he looked away towards the smoke. "Be ready," he added softly.

As the servant followed Hikaru onto the ship, he got distracted with the hustle and bustle of offloading the Crown Prince's rather extensive wardrobe. Hikaru used the commotion to slip away and back onto the dock. He snuck through the wagons as they were assembling and managed to make his way to the back of his father's wagon.

No one was going to tell HIM what to do! He was a Prince after all!

* * *

The wagon train took off at a fast speed down the cobblestone street. The place really was deserted. People were clearly locked away inside their houses, obvious because Kakashi could see a window crack open every now and then as they passed. He glanced up. Calamity was doing a good job of moving from rooftop to rooftop, considering she was using pure agility and no chakra. He looked back at the other team members.

Sakura looked calm and ready, so did Hiroka, as they raced alongside the wagon. Lee however was atop the wagon, legs apart, one in front the other, arms out for balance, grinning widely.

"As if in flight!" he whooped. "As if in flight!"

Kakashi grimaced and turned his focus back forward, determined not to let the similarities between his 'life-long rival' and his protégé get to him.

The distance melted away and before they knew it, they could hear the sounds of battle. A sharp scream pierced the sky. Calamity hung back at the last tall building before the open grounds that lead to the palace. She could offer long range support from here. She drew her large bow and notched an arrow in readiness. A bead of sweat trickled down her temple at what lay before them.

Calamity saw it first as she was the highest, but Kakashi could see it as well. Hundreds of bodies. Blood everywhere. It was a true battlefield.

He saw the remnants of the battle ongoing. It looked like Palace Guards were being attacked by Military Forces. Kakashi was also sure he saw at least two Ninja in the mix. He turned back around.

"The battle is blocking the entrance to the Palace. It doesn't make sense trying to go through."

"Who's the enemy?" Lee asked. "Who should we help?"

"We'll see soon enough." Kakashi replied, motioning one of the Princes wagons forward. "Lee, drive this wagon, and as fast as you can, follow me!"

He took off at great speed, running towards the battle. Lee grabbed the reins from the frightened servant and snapped the reins, lurching the carriage forward.

The Prince leaned out of his wagon seeing one of his wagons careen past him. "Where are you going with my shoes!" he shouted.

Kakashi kept a sharp eye for the reaction of the battle's combatants of the arrival of the 'Prince's carriage'. He didn't have to wait long.

"It's Prince Michiru! Protect the Prince!" the Palace guards shouted. Kakashi nodded and turned his attention to the attacking Military forces. They all wore the insignia of the Crescent Moon Kingdom. So either they were infiltrators or this was a Palace Coup attempt.

Not that it mattered anymore.

His first kunai cut the throat of a spear wielding soldier. Blood spurted outwards but Kakashi was moving at the speed he had developed to use Chidori so was long gone before any blood could land on him. He cut a swath through the large group of Soldiers who were unprepared for such a skilled attack.

Lee turned and ran the wagon straight into the soldiers. He leapt off it and flipped in midair, landing feet first on someone's shoulders.

The man had to have been nearly three hundred pounds so it wasn't too surprising that he kept standing. He looked up confused at a smiling Lee who looked back down at him and winked. He hit the man in his face with a flick of his nunchaku. The man shrieked as blood exploded from his nose. He stumbled backwards and Lee kept his balance on top of him. A soldier swung at Lee with a sword, but he jumped over it, flipping upside down and cracking the man's skull with his nunchaku. He landed in a handspring on the large man's head, pushing himself back up into another flip as another sword swiped at his arms this time. He flipped over and came around with a crescent kick to the attackers head, crushing it down onto his shoulders, sending the soldier into oblivion. Lee had managed to finish his crescent kick with his left leg out in the kick, but his right leg tucked under him, still on the large soldier's head.

"Gai-sensei says we need to use the terrain to our advantage," Lee said to no one in particular as twirled the nunchuks. "I think you count as terrain." He smacked the man on the left side of his head and he stumbled left, which is where Lee wanted to go next.

Sakura and Hiroka stood ready on either side of the Prince's wagon, on edge, waiting for an inevitable attack. Calamity kept an eye on the battle. Kakashi and Lee were doing well. She could have contributed, but didn't want to give away her position just yet.

She glanced past the battle towards the castle itself. With a gasp, she peered harder. It looked like the King (it had to be with that crown) was actually in a battle with a ninja. The King was clearly trained in swordplay, but not by a ninja. He swung his broadsword swiftly, his thick arms twirling the massive blade as if it was a stick. The ninja however was having no trouble dodging the swings, and seemed to be waiting for an opening to strike.

Calamity notched her arrow quickly, seeing where this was going. It all happened in the blink of an eye. The King swung and missed the ninja, who saw his chance and lunged forward with his hand glowing. Calamity let her arrow fly. It was her strongest bow, her fullest draw. The ninja had barely touched the King's shoulder before the arrow slammed its way into his forearm. The force was such that his hand snapped back out, away from the King, and made him stumble.

The King to fell to his knees in a howl of pain, clutching his shoulder. Calamity's view was blocked then as the King's guards made it to him and carried him away. The ninja she had hit pulled the arrow out and glared in her direction. Calamity let another arrow fly at him, aimed at his head this time.

He didn't flinch, catching it in mid air mere inches from his face. He snapped the arrow between two fingers and turned to look after where the King had gone. Finding no trace of the King, he snarled and glanced back in Calamity's direction before disappearing in a flash.

"Shit!" Calamity said as she stood up. Her position was no longer safe. She looked over the edge of the building and jumped off, grasping a gutter pipe and slid down as far as she could before letting go and landing on the top of one of the Prince's carriage.

Sakura and Hiroka were keeping a very sharp eye out for trouble, watching Kakashi and Lee work their way through the soldiers. As much as they may have wanted to join the battle, their task was to guard the Prince. They both knew it. It didn't mean they had to like it.

They glanced at Calamity as she landed.

"I saw the King. He's been injured by a ninja," Calamity said. She was already in her mind memorizing the face of that ninja. His attack had barely grazed the King, but had clearly inflicted much damage. He would be a dangerous opponent.

"My father was injured?" The Prince Michiru shouted, sticking his head out of the carriage. "Where!"

Calamity nodded her head towards the Palace grounds. "Inside the grounds. He was fighting a ninja. There seems to be three ninja in total that I counted. Several hundred soldiers invading the grounds. Less than fifty palace guards protecting the King. If we hadn't shown up, they would have been overrun already."

"We will go find my father!" The Prince exclaimed. He turned to the driver of his wagon. "Go! Now!"

The nervous driver snapped the reigns and the wagon lurched forward. Calamity lost her footing and fell backwards onto her ass. Hiroka swore and ran after the wagon, Sakura following. Kakashi had told them to stay put and they were now plummeting towards a battlefield after the Prince.

From her vantage point behind the wagon, Sakura saw a head pop up, and used some language she'd never have used in front of anyone. The Prince's son was hiding in the folds of cloth behind the coach. She sped up and jumped, gaining a foothold behind the wagon and holding onto the top. Hikaru looked up at her, frightened. Sakura shook her head in frustrating. Now they had two people to protect in a battle.

Hiroka grabbed onto the side of the wagon and made herself as flat against it as she could, this was going to get ugly real fast.

The wagon horses crashed through a group of soldiers. The large wheels rocketed side to side as they rolled over them, crushing them underneath, their shrieks filling the air. Sakura squirmed as a hand grabbed onto her ankle. She kicked it off when she realized it was a dismembered hand.

The carriage broke through the ranks of the soldiers and burst into the Palace grounds. It skidded sideways and one of the wheels broke. Before it could topple, Hiroka let go of the carriage and rolled to safety. The crazed horses dragged the carriage on one wheel, tottering, threatening to fall. Calamity jumped off and landed on one knee in a crouched position. Sakura grabbed Hikaru from the folds of the back of the carriage and jumped backwards. With the extra weight her fall wasn't as clean as the others. She skidded on the grass, feeling the air knocked out of her, but maintained her hold on the frightened young prince.

The wagon finally toppled, the Prince inside letting out an exclamation of shock and pain. The horses tried dragging it further but the dead weight of the carriage broke the straps harnessing them to it, and they ran away.

Calamity ran over to check on Sakura and…_was that Hikaru?_

Hiroka took a quick stock of their situation, and it was not good. Kakashi and Lee were cutting down the numbers outside the gates, but a good many soldiers had already made it inside. Plus two ninja's were advancing on their position. She spied maybe ten remaining palace guards fighting as best they could to stem the tide.

Her father had long drilled basic battle tactics into her head. She knew that two ninja were an unknown entity in the battle equation. Were they stronger than her? Two on one would make life difficult. She glanced back at Calamity who was helping Sakura and the young prince. With a whistle she got Calamity's attention.

Calamity's head snapped around and she saw the ninja advancing on Hiroka and the fallen wagon with the Prince inside it who was yelling to be let out. She raced over to Hiroka, blocking the wagon. She too saw the ninja advancing.

"I'll take the girl on the left," Calamity said.

"OK, the dumb looking brute on the right is mine then." Hiroka nodded, snapping her scarf out towards the attacking ninja.

* * *

Sakura grabbed the young prince and raced towards the carriage. She skidded low and stopped just shy of the roof of the overturned wagon. She put the prince down and jumped up and onto the door. Sakura opened it and saw Michiru struggling to extricate himself from the curtains and overturned seats, but otherwise unscathed. She reached for him and pushing chakra to her legs and arms pulled him out.

He huffed and puffed, finally landing on the ground next to his son, who he stared at in shock.

"Hikaru? What are you doing here?"

Sakura interrupted them. "No time for that now. We've got to move. Let's head for the Palace." She looked over at her teammates. They had engaged two ninja and seemed to be barely holding their own. She took a deep breath and prepared to grab the Prince and his son and push them towards the palace, when an armored carriage raced around the side of the building. At least ten palace guards rode in front and beside it.

It careened to a stop right next to Sakura and the Prince. The doors swung open to reveal a palace guard and a clearly in pain King.

"Get in Your Highness!" The guard shouted at Prince Michuro. Sakura wasted no thought and pulled at the Prince and his son, shoving them into the wagon. She turned swiftly and yelled for her teammates.

"Hiroka! Calamity! We're pulling out!"

Calamity fired a few more arrows at the blur in front of her. _Damn this girl was fast! _She jumped backwards and flipped into a one handed hand spring. On her final flip arc she fired off a couple more bolts from her crossbows, all of which missed. But it served the purpose of stalling. She landed safely next to the wagon and in one deft move got on top, already reaching for more bolts for her mini-crossbows.

Hiroka found herself faced with a brute of a man who seemed unaffected by her attacks. The cloth scarf snapped at him, and an attack that would shatter rock was caught. He hit her across the face and she flew back into the ground.

Sakura gasped and readied herself to leap in to save Hiroka when a green blur ran up the offending ninja's chest. His head snapped back but he didn't go down. Sakura made out Lee's shape in midair having connected with that kick, and doing a flip with the nunchuks in his hands. As if in slow motion, Sakura saw it all happen. Upside down and slightly behind the man he reached out with the chain and grabbed the ninja's neck with it. Lee twisted in mid air and brought his body facing the man. He bent and let gravity take him to the ground while pulling apart with the nunchuks. The large ninja's neck proved thick, but his head collided with the stone courtyard satisfyingly.

Sakura heard the crack from where she was.

Lee got up quickly without a second glance at the man and ran over to Hiroka who was unconscious. Sakura shook her head at the brutality and finality of Lee's attack. The Lee she had known before wouldn't have been so callous._ Time and war change a person,_ she told herself.

Lee scooped up Sakura and dodged some arrows from the invading army that had poured into the palace grounds. Despite his and Kakashi's best efforts there was just too many. Kakashi himself stood in a circle of dead bodies near the gate, killing anyone unfortunate enough to be within reach. He glanced back at his charges and shouted at them.

"Come on!"

Lee jumped onto the coach next to Calamity who was still firing bolts at the female ninja who couldn't seem to get close enough to do any damage. The Ninja Lee had taken down seemed to also be getting to his feet.

The carriage lurched forward and sped towards the gate. The guards riding in front of it swung their sabers left and right, cutting down the invaders like weeds. As they passed Kakashi he disappeared in a shunshin and appeared hanging onto the back of the carriage.

They raced off into the evening accompanied by the shouts of angry soldiers.

* * *

_Konoha_

"Subjects of Konoha!"

The booming voice of Danzo echoed over the gathered crowd. Danzo had ensured that every citizen and soldier of Konoha was present. Many Iwa ninja were there as well. Since they had been absorbed into Danzo's army, the Iwa ninja had for the most part blended into Konoha society. There were a few bad ones that seemed more in tune with Danzo's trusted ROOT soldiers. But for the most part, the citizens found that Iwa ninja were no different that Konoha ninja. Just people living their lives as best they could.

But today, they were gathered against their will to witness the execution of one of the nicest and most respected Konoha ninja that most of the citizens knew.

Danzo leered at the massive crowd. This was what he wanted. A populace in fear of him. A demonstration of his power to cement that fear. He motioned for the guards to bring out the teacher, Iruka.

There as a collective gasp from the crowd when the door to the prison beneath the Hokage's tower opened to reveal Iruka. His head was bloodied, his mouth tied with a scarf. Rumor had it that the Hokage – Emperor as he was now demanding to be called – had removed Iruka's tongue. Those with sharp eyes in the crowd could see that it was no empty threat.

It had done nothing to dampen the fire in Iruka's eyes though. He glared daggers at Danzo. One of the guards grabbed his arm and Iruka pulled it away, walking ahead to his execution with his head held high.

He stopped just shy of the post that he would be tied to, and that a fellow Konoha nin would soon impale him with a sword on. He looked over the crowd to see anger, disgust, pity, and fear. He hoped that no one tried anything, Iruka knew that Danzo would have a lot of his ROOT here as crowd control, and he wanted no one hurt on his behalf. He would die with the pride of a Konoha nin.

A minute later, he had been tied to the post and Danzo began his rhetoric.

"My subjects. This is what happens to those who choose to go against the policies that I enforce. Why do you go against me? This is for the good of Konoha! For the rise of the Leaf! The world needs the strength that Konoha has to guide it from the chaos! This…man….before you betrayed not just me, not just you, but the world itself. Humanity itself!..."

"What a load of shit!" A single voice floated up from the crowd.

Danzo spluttered. "W-who said that! Who DARES?"

A man in a cloak jumped clear of the crowd and landed in the open courtyard between the ROOT guarding the crowd and the ROOT guarding the prisoner. Iruka's eyes opened wide as he caught a flash of the face in the cloak.

The man stood there, hidden beneath his cloak and shouted again.

"Konoha has always been strong! The old man would tell us of the _Will of Fire_ that is inside all of us! I don't know what your problem is, but just shut the hell up about it!"

Danzo furiously pointed at the man. "Kill him!"

The figure bent over a little bit and flung the cloak off. The crowd gasped, some even screamed at the blonde haired figure in white.

"Holy shit! It's the Fourth Hokage!" a Konoha nin exclaimed.

"The Yellow Flash!" several Iwa nin shouted out fearfully.

"No! That's Naruto!" The recognition was instant. The time away from Konoha had allowed Naruto to age and become tougher, bigger. His hair was also wilder. He was the splitting image of the Fourth Hokage. And dressed all in white like he was, some were half convinced that he _was_ the Fourth, returned as an avenging angel.

Naruto glared at Danzo, death in his eyes. "In the name of my Father, the Fourth Hokage, and in honor of the old man Sarutobi the Third, I Naruto Uzumaki will kill you Danzo, the worm."

Naruto leapt into the air and made his sign for the shadow clone jutsu. A deafening roar and clouds of smoke filled the sky. A thousand Naruto clones fell to the ground like raindrops. The open courtyard vanished under a sea of white. The ROOT soldiers fell back under the assault of the sudden appearance of the army. Moving as one cohesive unit, the new 'Narutos' pushed the ROOT soldiers back, their sheer numbers overwhelming the guards.

In the background, the assembled masses panicked, all the civilians and 'neutral' ninja running and trying to escape the courtyard. Amidst all that, there were the few trying to escape the crowds to help the guards and attack the army of white, most planted ROOT ninja, but a few Iwa and Konoha ninja angry for blood. It wouldn't be long before Naruto's clones were attacked from all sides, but there was too much chaos and confusion to make it organized, giving the young hero a few extra minutes.

A squad of fifty Naruto's ran up the Hokage tower towards Danzo. With a curse Danzo fell back into the Hokage's office and motioned for his elite root guard to protect him, while he unlocked a covering on his hidden arm.

Meanwhile the real Naruto knocked out the one guard between him and Iruka sensei. He cut the ropes binding him with a shuriken and grinned at his former teacher. Iruka stared at Naruto in disbelief. He hadn't seen his protégé in so long, he had changed so much. The entire plaza was a sea of white Naruto clones. Iruka hadn't seen an attack of this magnitude since Naruto had saved him from Mizuki. It was an odd twist of fate that took them full circle.

Naruto passed Iruka to three Naruto clones who nodded and held onto him tight. In a flash they disappeared. An observant ROOT nin saw them reappear behind the crowds then disappear again in a flash.

"The prisoner is escaping!" he shouted.

The Konoha nin loyal to Danzo and the Iwa nin had recovered from the initial shock and were pushing back against the massive crowd of 'Naruto's'. Naruto had been through a lot of training in the time he had been away though, enough for his clones to be tougher than all but the most skilled jounin of both Iwa and Konoha camps.

The fifty Naruto's that had gone after Danzo burst into the Hokage's office like locusts. Danzo watched as his most trusted ROOT elite decimated them. Code names Centipede and Lizard were a blur as hands and legs destroyed each bunshin with a touch. Both of these ROOT soldiers had been personally trained by him, having shown exceptional skill in combat and a talent for chakra disruption techniques. His own personal bodyguards against the Jinchurriki's of the world.

Within a minute the room had been cleared. Danzo hadn't gotten to where he was without having fought many battles. This attack on his office was halfhearted at best, it was clearly a diversion. He raced back to the balcony and saw the melee in the courtyard. Hundreds of Naruto clones holding the Konoha nin at bay. Danzo signaled to Centipede, who leapt from the balcony.

In midair he formed several hand signs and came screaming down to the earth. He landed with a thump on one knee and punching the ground. A massive chakra disruption wave spread outwards from his landing point. The courtyard was a sea of thunderous pops and smoke as the Kage Bunshins were destroyed. Centipede immediately passed out unconscious from the exertion. It was a near suicide technique that Danzo only commanded he use in extreme circumstances. Anything for his leader.

Danzo scanned the carnage. The prisoner was gone! He spied several ROOT chasing something down one of the streets.

"There! That must be them! Lizard I want them dead!" he commanded his other elite ROOT soldier.

The assassin in question leapt from the balcony in a blur, landed in the courtyard below and raced after the other ROOT. Danzo knew that his orders would be carried out to the letter. His elite four did not fail, ever. He surveyed the damage. The area was mostly intact, most of the populace had run, some had stayed. It was unfortunate that brat Naruto had claimed his heritage. It would give the Konoha nin someone to rally behind, even if he was dead, he would be martyred and Danzo would have to deal with the stupidity of many ninja.

He swore, he would deal with it however he needed to. His sharp eyes caught movement from the left, and dodged just in time to avoid something being thrown at him. His instincts kept him dodging. Senbon! His senses were shrieking out at him, but he couldn't see them. _They must be wind senbon, _he reasoned. Three more Naruto clones appeared running along the side of the building. One made an open fist and a Rasengen formed as they ran full tilt at Danzo.

His eyes glared at the lead Naruto. So this was the real one. _Foolish, he should have left with the others_. This was not the first time Danzo had seen the Rasengen, but it was the first time it was directed at him. He had to admit, it was a terrifying jutsu. But Naruto was still far away, he had lots of time to counter. He prepared to do just that when Naruto disappeared in a flash and appeared inches away from Danzo, slamming the Rasengan into his chest. Danzo saw and felt that final thrust in slow motion. _Was that a Hiraishin!_

Naruto felt the Rasengan connect. Felt the flesh start to tear, but then Danzo seemed to…dematerialize. Danzo appeared to Naruto's left and lashed out with his sword, catching Naruto off guard, slicing his shoulder.

Naruto tucked and rolled away, flashing back to the building wall, clinging to it with chakra on his feet. He clutched his shoulder and jumped away from the building. His two clones leapt with him. As one they shifted in mid-flight so that the real Naruto was facing the tower, while one clone was beneath him facing down, the other with his back to him, facing the other direction.

This was the part of the plan that was hardest to convince Naruto to do. The Hokage's tower had long been the symbol of power within Konoha. Its significance long predated Danzo. But Shikamaru had made a valid point. It's just stone. It could be rebuilt. But pride, power. Those would take longer to recover. If Naruto's attack on Danzo failed, then this was the only option.

Naruto gathered as much chakra as he could manage and pushed out in his wind attack, as hard, as much as he could. Simultaneously, the two clones did the same attack, using all the chakra they had at their disposal. It would not be nearly the amount as the original Naruto used, but enough for the purpose.

Naruto's wind blast hit the Hokage's tower like a tidal wave, atomizing the stone structure into pebbles and dust where it hit. The tower had many seals on it to prevent against damage, against chakra attacks. But Naruto poured so much power into it that nothing could prevent it. It was a force of nature itself.

As he did that though he was in midair with nothing to bolster him, so he should have been flung back equally. His clone behind him negated some of that backwards movement with his own wind thrust, and the one beneath him propelled Naruto upwards. The end effect was Naruto WAS flung backwards, but in a smoother, rising arc away from and out of Konoha, towards the general area of the meeting point.

Danzo dematerialized again and reappeared seconds later on the ground as the wind finished ripping through his tower. He pulled the sleeves on his shirt up to reveal rows and rows of Sharingan eyes. Two were now permanently closed. This technique had saved his life twice today, but cost him two Sharingan eyes, and those were no longer possible to replace. He swore viciously. Naruto had not managed to kill him, but he had cost Danzo dearly today.

* * *

The three Naruto clones with Iruka kept the Hiraishin going until they were close to the meeting point, then one stayed behind while the other two kept going. They were being followed and the first part of the escape plan needed to be put into effect.

Five ROOT members burst into view, racing to catch up. Naruto's Hiraishin was able to keep them very far ahead, but the ROOT were skilled enough to not be too far behind. The clone pulled out a handful of exploding tags and stuck them all over his body with a grin, whistling as he did so. A minute later the ROOT ninja saw 'Naruto' standing in the middle of the path. He waved at them then raced towards them. They kept heading for him, drawing weapons while doing so. Only when he was a mere twenty feet away did one of them notice the exploding tags.

"It's a trap!" ROOT member Akbar shouted, unable to change his forward motion in time, he shielded his face.

Too late though as Naruto crashed into them at full speed, igniting his tags. A deafening explosion rocketed the noon sky.

* * *

Lizard leapt over the carnage, continuing to chase after the prisoner. He had seen the trap unfold and didn't even blink an eye at the destroyed bodies of his fellow ROOT. Danzo trained all such weak emotions out of them a long time ago.

The two Naruto clones and Iruka popped into existence at the rendezvous point. The clones paused for a breather. They could Hiraishin a good bit longer, and would have to. The other's appeared next to them. Chouji handed the clones some solider pills to help their strength. Two more Naruto clones appeared with a stretcher between them. Anko lay on it, unconscious.

Shikamaru nodded in approval. "OK now you get out of here. We will head in that direction, hopefully leading away any more following ninja."

Senjii and Nagi looked at the teacher that Naruto had saved. Nagi looked away uncomfortably. Iruka's tongue had been cut out, and not gently. Senjii looked to the sky to see if the real Naruto was anywhere in sight.

As if on cue, the real Naruto 'flew' overhead. His arc would take him a few hundred yards east of their position, which was fine, that was the direction they were heading in.

Senjii nodded at Nagi and they raced over to where Naruto would fall. The two clones grabbed Iruka again and raced off, the clones with Anko between them keeping pace.

"Shikamaru," Shino said suddenly. "We have company. Strong chakra signature. Seconds away."

Shikamaru had thought this was a possibility, so he put his contingency plan number twelve into place. He dove off into the bushes, while Shino did the same in the other direction. Chouji stood in the middle of the clearing waiting on the approaching ninja.

Lizard landed in the clearing, noticing the fat Akamachi clan member, and glanced around quickly looking for the escapees. He felt chakra all around him and realized he had fallen into a trap. He leapt forward in a blur. Logic dictated he remove the threat in front of him first, then the threat surrounding him. He felt a movement under his feet and leapt into the air in time to avoid Shikamaru's shadow hold. The clearing was covered in leaf shadows, it would be all too easy for him to fall prey to such a Jutsu here. That means the shadow clan user was here too. The report Danzo had on his desk claimed that there were two others as well.

Lizard jumped and landed only on spots without shadow, racing towards Chouji who stood glaring at him. A second later his foot was arcing for Chouji's face. It collided with a satisfying thump, but instead of falling over, Chouji seemed to disintegrate before him. The figure of a man before him became a writhing mass of bugs. They latched onto his leg and he screamed as they ate into it. He simultaneously felt physical damage as well as massive chakra depletion. As he fell back, he felt his hands reach over to cover his mouth, muffling him. He realized he was held in the shadow bind jutsu. Falling to the earth as he stared straight up, he saw the dog clan user above him, spiraling downwards. The last sound he ever heard was Kiba shouting.

"Gatsuga!"

* * *

Naruto twisted before he hit the ground and managed a weak wind blast. Enough to slow his fall so he wasn't liquefied on impact. He still made a rather large 'whoomp' sound and a decent size crater. As he lay in the ground, pondering the steps he took in life to end up here, two heads peaked over into the hole.

"Hey Naruto, come on stop lazing around, we've gotta go." Senjii said.

"You look comfy down there Naruto. Should we send in a pillow?" Nagi said tongue in cheek.

"I'll put both of you in a hole and we'll see who's comfortable after," Naruto responded, clambering to his feet. He bent his knees and leapt out of the crater.

Naruto looked at Iruka who smiled at him gratefully, yet exhaustedly. Naruto walked over and threaded his arm under Iruka's, propping him up, motioning for the clone to let him go.

"I've got you, sensei. We're taking you to Wave Country. I sent a message with the Toads for Tsunade to meet us there. Anko needs urgent help or she'll die, and it's the fastest, safest point we can get Tsunade to meet us. Maybe she can do something about your injuries too."

Iruka nodded, glancing at Anko. She looked almost dead already.

Her injuries had been cleaned and bandaged by the Suna Medic to the best of his abilities. He had left before their attack on Konoha, not wanting to chance Suna being tied to it in any fashion. His instructions were to keep Anko flat as much as possible, no sudden movements. Naruto's flashing Hiraishin movement was the perfect method for moving in such a case as no actual steps needed to be taken.

Senjii took point, "OK we have one day to get to Wave Country. Let's go!"

* * *

_Crescent Moon Kingdom_

The cave they were in was damp and dark, but it was apparently the safest place they could regroup. Kakashi was talking to the head guard who had rescued the King and subsequently the Princes as well. Apparently the King had known about the pending coup d'état, and that was the reason he had sent the Princes away. Even so they had moved months ahead of when their spies had told them it would happen. They had been taken completely off guard. The inclusion of three enemy ninja in the attack had also taken them by surprise.

Sakura was doing her best with the King's injuries, but the ninja had done some serious damage and Sakura still had much to learn from Tsunade. His arm had petrified to stone, and it was creeping higher and higher. All Sakura could do was her best to slow it down.

"I, I don't know what to do here," she stuttered. The King looked at her kindly. "We could probably slow it down enough to get you to a proper healer on the mainland. But we'd need to leave immediately."

"You tried young one. I must thank you for returning my son and grandson to me safely," he said, "but I will not abandon my people."

The prince looked at his father worriedly. "Forget them Dad. We need to see about you."

Calamity looked at Hiroka and back to Sakura. "It's like a poisonous snake bite right, keeps spreading?"

Sakura nodded.

Hiroka caught on to what Calamity was saying. "Ah. Well in the badlands, if you get bit, and have no antidote nearby, you cut off the limb. Better to be shy a hand or a leg than dead."

Sakura stared at them wide eyed. Such, finality, was not what she was used to. The King grabbed her hand.

"They're right. Guard! Bring my Sword."

Prince Michiru stared at them, dumbfound. "What? No! You won't cut off my father's arm!"

"Michiru!" the King barked. The Prince stood rooted to the spot, staring at his father.

"You're right, they will not cut off my arm. YOU will!" the King said, shedding the blankets and sitting up.

"What?" There was unanimous shock around the cave.

"My son, you need to learn a lesson. A lesson that I never taught you. That you must suffer for the greater good. Every hero you've ever heard a story about, every great leader, every king, must at some point sacrifice."

"But, we can leave father. We can take our wealth and live elsewhere. We can find you better medical treatment."

"No! This is our land Michiru! Our kingdom! We will not abandon it to the likes of Shabadaba. The people of our kingdom is our real wealth."

The head guard placed the king's sword into the coals of their fire while this conversation was taking place. After a minute, he withdrew it, red hot, sterilized, and handed it to Prince Michiru who looked at it in shock.

"You are not making any sense father."

"Hikaru's mother. Would you let Shabadaba enslave her?"

"Never!"

"What length would you go through to stop that?"

"I'd, I'd do anything."

"That's what it means to be King." The king placed his stone arm on a slab table. The petrification had reached his bicep. "It means that everyone, every citizen is someone we love. And we will suffer for them."

He fixed Michiru in a steely gaze and commanded him. "Now cut my arm off. So that I may live, and that we may fight."

Michiru cried, but his grip on the sword did not weaken. He held it tightly, the seconds counting down, the silence in the room deafening. Sakura readied her cauterization jutsu, watching the steam rise off the blade of the sword.

He swung, the sound of metal cutting then striking stone echoing through the chamber. The king did not so much as whimper.

"This is what it means to be a man, my son. To be a King." Sakura hurriedly cauterized the wound, blood initially spurting over the stone table. The flesh sizzled as the wound healed under Sakura's jutsu.

Michiru ran to the wall and threw up.

The King turned to Kakashi and the head guard who stared at him, with shock, awe and respect. "I'm sorry, my son needs some lessons on royalty still. He's a good man, just a bit naïve and sheltered. I had hoped that a year long trip through the world would open his eyes a bit. Now then, what shall we do about this intruder in my palace?"

* * *

Shabadaba swore violently. The King was missing, the Prince had returned early forcing him to spring his attack sooner than planned. Their losses had been heavy too. Those damn ninja the Prince had brought back were a pain in the ass. _And not the good kind,_ he thought, glancing at his consort.

He looked pointedly at the three ninja before him, and the head of his small army.

"We must find them! They will cause us no end of trouble alive still. I want this island and I will have it without interference!"

The ninja nodded, smiling wryly. They had each seen a ninja they could kill, and that would eliminate the threat. The money for this job would be VERY worth it.

As they said that, a commotion was heard out in the courtyard. Before they could investigate, four blurs came in through the open balcony and landed softly on the marble floor.

Shabadaba stared in disbelief. There appeared three beautiful ninja girls and one ninja boy with an odd bowl haircut, who seemed to have the King on his back. The King got off, and unsheathed his sword. The intruders spread out, each walking towards a specific ninja.

"Shabadaba. I trusted you, and you betrayed me and my people. Time to die," the King said quietly.

According to the strategy they had worked out, an immediate counter attack would be unexpected. Also the fighters could be paired up to their advantage.

Sakura would fight the ninja who was super strong, Kongou. Strength for strength.

Lee would fight the girl who was fast, Karenbana. Speed for speed. From the last battle, Sakura had determined she used a mix of genjutsu and a poison attack to slow down her opponent to make herself seem even faster. The genjutsu would have a minimal effect on Lee due to his under-developed chakra coils, and speed wise he could likely dodge any poison attacks.

Calamity and Hiroka would take care of the ninja who could turn things to stone, Ishidate. Distance attacks versus a close combat expert.

The King wanted Shabadaba and any guards for himself. Kakashi and the other loyal guards would ensure they would fight alone, tackling the small army downstairs.

The Prince and his son were in a building across from the Palace room, commanded by the King to watch everything.

The fight began with fury and shouts. The King impaled the head of Shabadaba's army on his sword. Despite only having one arm, the King was still a master swordsman.

Shabadaba screamed in fear and anger, drawing his saber and charging the King with a flurry of wild swings.

The fast girl came at Lee, using her normal mix of genjutsu and speed. But it had no effect on Lee who followed her every movement and he too disappeared in a blur of speed.

"You're not that fast," Lee said casually, catching her with a fist to her temple that glanced off. The girl crashed to the ground, but got up quickly, drawing her daggers. Lee pulled out his nunchuku, ready for her.

Sakura braced herself as the large brute of a ninja rushed her. She had already made up her mind on how this fight should go. As he swung, she ducked under then pushed as much chakra into her fist as she could. With a step she was next to and behind her opponent. She swung as hard as she could, connecting with him, pushing the chakra through, and using her double-tap punch, the Futae-no-kiwami. The results were explosive. The ninja's stomach exploded, and his spine shattered. The outcome was horrific, and it would have a psychological effect on the other combatants she had calculated.

She was right.

The girl ninja had seen that mid attack on Lee and was terrified. She threw her daggers at Lee and tried to escape, leaping for the windows. She fell back an instant later, a large arrow embedded in her chest.

Michiru exhaled, lowering his bow. The bow and arrow was the preferred weapon of both himself and his son. From this vantage point, they could pick off anyone trying to escape his father's assault, and he would NOT let down his father. Not after what he sacrificed to do this.

Hiroka and Calamity were tag teaming Ishidate. Calamity was using her mini-crossbows to good effect, keeping him at distance. Hiroka's scarf attacks were snapping and vicious, and didn't come in straight lines, making it almost impossible to dodge. Several long gashes already adorned his body.

With an angry yell he rushed them, taking a few crossbow bolts to his legs, but still coming. He made it close enough to back hand Calamity but before he could connect Hiroka's scarf wrapped around his hand and he found himself being raised up in the air. He began to petrify her scarf, but it wrapped itself around his neck as well. He lost focus for a split second, to reach for the scarf around his neck, he did not see the arrows that riddles his chest and neck.

Hiroka dropped him like a rock, letting his body roll out of her scarf. She rolled and snapped the scarf back to her, shortening it and wrapping it around herself.

Calamity grabbed a quick refill of her bows and looked around the room for other enemies.

The King advanced on Shabadaba, who was also good with a saber. He was no match for the King though who parried a wild thrust, and deftly removed Shabadaba's hand. The pompous man wailed and shrieked, grasping onto the stump where his hand had been.

The King looked at him in disgust. "How could a worm like you ever hope to lead a country?"

"Mercy your majesty. Please, Mercy!" Shabadaba cried.

The King swung his sword, lopping his head off. It rolled across the room, a look of horror frozen on its face. "Mercy granted."

The sounds of fighting in the courtyard grew less and less. Kakashi and the palace guards had indeed taken them completely by surprise. It was a slaughter.

The King looked grimly around the room. "Not a shining day in my nation's history, but we are victorious!"

* * *

Two days later, the King sat on his throne, with the Prince and his son to his left. Hikaru's new tiger friend sat next to him, purring like a kitten. The King had taken a liking to that friendship, saying it showed strength in its purest form.

Michiru smiled brightly at Sakura and the others, but his eyes had a hardness that wasn't there before. Michiru had been forced to grow up, and saw the world differently now. He hoped he was indeed a good a person as his father said he was.

Kakashi had been unable to attend, laying in a bed exhausted from overuse of the Sharingan.

"You saved my life, and my son's life. And my Kingdom. We owe you a life debt that could never be repaid," the King said, his voice booming over the gathered audience. Those members of his court who had been imprisoned for not siding with Shabadaba had been released and now cheered Sakura, and the girl team from Tengoku. Murmurs of the Celestial Beauties of Heaven echoed throughout the hall. Lee stood there as well, blushing brightly.

"The Crescent Moon Kingdom recognizes Tengoku as a friend, and as a protector of our Kingdom." Such a declaration was a major coup for Naruto's fledgling village. The Crescent Moon Kingdom was rich and influential. Many other smaller nations would follow their example.

The King turned to Lee. "It is my understanding that Shabadaba used Konoha ninja to try to kill my son. I realize that I owe you personally a life debt, but I hereby cut ties with your village. No member will be welcome here, nor will we send any business to Konoha. I suggest you examine your loyalties young one, for they are with the wrong side at the moment.

Lee looked down ashamedly. He had been thinking the same as well.

"I thank you all. You are welcome to stay for as long as you like. We would be glad to host and celebrate you!" the King smiled magnanimously.

Sakura sighed, a vacation! Hiroka and Calamity grinned widely, images of that white sandy beach running through their heads.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Finally! It's been hard to get the time to write this chapter, sorry to keep those interested waiting.

Great work from my Beta (Evil Joshua) once again for helping to keep my characters on the path of the realistic and awesome. :D

I got MANY submissions for new characters, and I'm pleased to announce that you will see quite a few rear their heads in the next two chapters, in what I hope will be great cameo's. 10 points if you can guess HOW they will appear. Lol.

I'd like to stave off some inevitable questions:

* Naruto could indeed have unleashed a much more massive attack, but then he'd have destroyed the city, and MANY innocent people in it. That's not my Naruto.

* Shikamaru did not expect them to successfully assassinate Danzo. That would be foolish. The man was cunning enough to become emperor of TWO hidden villages. The whole thing was a diversion so they could get Iruka out of there. Using the Naruto clones took away much of the risk of the NA doing it themselves.

Thanks for all your patience, hope you enjoyed this update.


	22. Chapter 22 : Rogue Wave

**Chapter 22  
Rogue Wave**

_Five hours after Iruka's rescue_

"Give me a status report!" Danzo ordered. He had set up a temporary office in a building adjacent to the now defunct Hokage's tower. He glanced up at where it used to be angrily. Long had it been a symbol of Konoha's might._ No matter. I will make it bigger and better than before, a testament to MY greatness._

"We have found the bodies of several ROOT leading into Training Ground #4. We've also found the body of one of your honor guard, code name 'Lizard'. One of our sensors detected the residue of Naruto and three others heading off to the East*. There are no tracks to follow, we are unsure of their method of travel."

Danzo swore angrily. Losing one of his four guardians was a bigger blow to him than the Hokage's tower. He'd invested a lot of time and effort into their selection, development and training.

"East? Why East? They would have had more places to run if they went West." Danzo thought for a moment. "Didn't the Jinchurriki once do a mission to the East? In Wave country?" Danzo had monitored every where they let their little weapon ran off to years ago.

"I don't know sir," the ROOT member responded. Danzo scowled at him, his mind working at a million miles a minute. He may have been many things, but Danzo had a keen mind for war and politics.

"They must be heading to Wave Country. I had sent a notice to them a few weeks ago along with all the other smaller countries bordering us to become one of my territories or perish. I've yet to get a response. " He looked hard at the ROOT member. "Perhaps an example needs to be set. Two birds with one stone. I want you to gather a force of three hundred and pursue the Jinchurikki and his friends. He must pay for his crimes against Konoha. If he is as I suspect sheltering in Wave Country, then they are harboring a fugitive from Fire and Earth Countries. We will invade and suppress them. That should send a clear message to the other border countries to not delay in joining with me."

Danzo glanced down at his papers. "I expect you to be ready to leave within two hours."

The ROOT member cleared his throat. "May I suggest sir that we use a primarily Iwagakure force? We are down to a few hundred loyal ROOT members, while there are many Iwa ninja about the city. It would be useful to send them into battle where casualties may be high."

Danzo smirked. "Good. See to it."

* * *

_Three hours later_

Neji jumped to the next branch, keeping an eye on Tenten as she kept pace with him. He noticed, not for the first time, how delicately and silently she moved. It was quite a contrast to her proficiency with weapons. He grimaced as he heard the whispering noise of the force Danzo had committed to this chase. Several hundred ninja, both ROOT and standard chunnin and Jounins from Iwa were all given one order and one only.

Kill Naruto and anyone he's with.

Neji knew that to argue with that command would not only be suicide, but the Danzo loyalists were undoubtedly keeping an eye on everyone in the force, any sign that he was not doing his best would give away his true loyalties. He scowled, jumping to the next branch. He wasn't sure yet how not to do his best to kill Naruto and make it appear that he was.

That didn't really seem to be a problem yet though.

He'd never seen anyone move as fast as Naruto was moving with his friends. Neji could pick up minor chakra bursts, but they were so far ahead that he was unsure. It seemed as if Naruto and his friends blinked into and out of existence, miles apart. They were in no way keeping up with them. Instead it was very basic deduction that kept them on this path. Naruto was obviously going to Wave country.

He glanced at Tenten and knew she was thinking the same thing. Why were they running there? It was essentially a dead end. Unless he had a boat waiting to escape, and even if he did, Danzo's forces would find them even easier. A person on a boat was a much easier target than one on land.

Tenten leapt to the ground, the types of trees in this area not allowing for branch traveling. They raced full speed ahead, to meet their friend in combat.

* * *

Senji sighed audibly. The Naruto clone carrying him grinned as they popped into existence again. Senjii looked around and all of the others were similarly being carried. Nagi didn't look much happier either. They would have been happier moving of their own volition. But they'd caught sight of the Konoha forces earlier in the day, and they needed the head start that reaching Wave Country would give them. Iruka was being handled very carefully by two Naruto clones, as was Anko.

Senjii hoped Lady Tsunade would reach there quickly. In his head he did some repeated math and made plans. _Naruto says the wind stream to Wave takes three hours. We sent our message about two hours ago. At the rate Naruto is moving we'll be at Wave before her. Hopefully she did not come alone, we'll need all the help we can get against that Konoha army after us._

Naruto himself looked concerned. He was getting tired. He'd been pushing hard for the past couple of days, expending a huge amount of chakra in his Hiraishin jumps. Then that wind-chakra blast destroying the Hokage tower ate up a lot of his reserves. Truth was Naruto was ready to collapse, but his friends were counting on him, and Iruka-sensei, and Anko. He glanced at both of them. The scars of Danzo's reign made Naruto angry, and fueled him to jump again, and again.

_Not far now, almost there._

_

* * *

_

Tsunade swore up and down, left and right. Using every word in every language she had picked up in her travels around the world. It was a sight to behold.

Shizune giggled a bit, although she too was nervous as hell. Riding the wind stream was not as fun an experience as she thought it would have been. In fact it was downright terrifying. She glanced behind her at Jiraiya flying through the air, eyes shut tight, worry beads in his fist. Behind him were a handful of academy students she hadn't had time to properly be introduced to. It had all happened so fast.

That toad had appeared alerting Tsunade to the problem. Anko from Konoha needed a doctor, urgently. Shizune remembered Anko, a very brash ninja. Tsunade had called the other 'village elders' together and they'd in a matter of minutes decided a plan of action. Jiraiya had suggested they bring Inari along as he knew Wave country and they'd save valuable time that they may have spent lost.

Inari had made some really good friends at the academy though and they insisted on tagging along. Why Tsunade and Jiraiya had agreed to that was beyond Shizune's comprehension. Maybe it had something to do with what Mabry had said to them in hushed tones. All she knew was that she would have to look out for the three academy students. Especially the blind one.

Shizune knew the full scale of the mess they were about to jump in to. Naruto and his friends would be on the run from Konoha's forces. It would be impossible to tell how many until they got there but if she had to guess, it wouldn't be small. So how were they supposed to escape with all these children and two wounded nin?

Inari glanced back at his friends and grinned at them. They all smiled back, including Gen. Inari shook his head. How did he do that? A blind kid who sent out chakra pulses to see, like a bat's sonar waves. Gen was an incredibly skilled fighter though, and constantly amazed people by seeming to 'see'.

The four of them had become practically inseparable during Inari's training at the academy. While initially cautious towards him, Inari had hit it off with Syren because they were both from the Eastern countries. Syren was initially from an island not far from Wave Country. His water shifting abilities were seemingly a family trait. Inari hadn't asked how he'd ended up on the streets in the badlands, he figured if Syren wanted to tell him he would someday.

Mirrun was quiet as usual, smiling but not saying much. Inari saw her eyes were closed too. He wondered if maybe she was scared of heights too, like Lady Tsunade and he grinned even wider. But then he heard a snore and realized she'd fallen asleep. Of course. Mirrun could sleep anywhere.

"What's that down there?" Syren said aloud. They all looked down. It was terrifying, the height they were traveling at. The ground was many miles below them. But they could see what Syren was pointing out, a steady stream of black dots highlighted against the landscape. It was a large movement of people through a thin patch of forest and they were all heading in the same direction.

"Shit. That has to be a force from Konoha chasing after Naruto." Jiraiya said. He turned to Inari. "How far are we from Wave Country?"

Inari looked for landmarks. "At this point, a half day's travel with no rest."

Jiraiya nodded. '"We're going to land right before a shit storm hits."

Tsunade clicked her tongue. "That boy." They flew in silence for the next thirty minutes, shooting at breakneck speed through the air.

"We're almost there!" Inari shouted into the wind. He recognized the terrain of his homeland instantly. Inari could barely contain his excitement. He would see home for the first time in more than a year. His mother would be thrilled to see him. He felt pride swell up in his chest. She'll see I'm becoming a ninja like Naruto!

"Get Yoshi's contraption ready!" Tsunade shouted at them all. As one they all reached for the large device in between them, the one they were all tied to by long cords for safety. Tsunade really hoped this worked. Yoshi's last words to them as they left were not the most encouraging.

...

_(Flashback)_

"You sure this will work Yoshi?" Jiraiya had asked skeptically.

Yoshi shrugged. "Fifty-fifty. I know two instances of something like this being used. A father and son team. Daedalus lived, his son died." Yoshi then grinned. "Of course that's just an inventor's fairy tale, but the science seems sound!"

...

Tsunade swore one last time as she saw a giant bridge coming towards them fast.

"We're here!" Inari shouted.

"Now!" Tsunade screamed as they pulled the cord on the 'Daedalus'. The device unraveled and a pair of giant wings sprung out from the side. Thousands of small metal feathers trembled in the wind. A series of rungs under the wings snapped down. The Tengoku warriors all grabbed for the bars as the wings started to glide out of the wind stream. The width of the 'Daedalus' was beyond the size of the wind stream, so it began to leave it.

Tsunade felt when they'd left the stream, the wings above her heading for the earth below. She breathed a sigh of relief though as they seemed to catch a gust and they glided forward swiftly.

Anyone in the area who looked up would have seen what looked like a giant metallic bird, gliding down from the sky, with seven people holding on to its wings.

"Ha! Yoshi has come through!" Jiraiya shouted in glee. He did NOT like heights, but avoiding plummeting to his death definitely made his day today.

No sooner had he said that than a single metallic feather broke free of the wing above him. He glanced up in horror to see that the feathers were all rattling. Another came free, then another. Jiraiya saw that the wings were wet, he glanced around and realized the sea breeze was condensing on the wings, and the glue Yoshi had used to stick the feathers was dissolving.

It took all of five seconds for enough feathers to break free and for the Daedalus to plummet into the ocean next to the bridge, taking seven screaming warriors with it.

They all emerged from the cold waters spluttering.

"Yoshi!" Tsunade shouted angrily. "I'm going to kill him."

They were close to the shore, so they just swam for it. Tsunade and Shizune held onto the box of medical supplies they'd brought, thanking the heavens that they hadn't lost it.

* * *

One last pop and they arrived, Naruto collapsing into a panting heap, his clones taking care to set down the stretcher with Anko carefully before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Senjii and Nagi looked at Naruto, feeling bad about letting him carry them. It was necessary of course; no way they would have gotten here as fast as they did otherwise. But now Naruto was exhausted and needed to rest, and they had an army from Konoha a few hours behind them.

Nagi held onto Iruka who was still weak from the torture he had been put through. Iruka looked at him gratefully and glanced around. Villagers had started to walk over to see what the fuss was about. It took a full minute before someone recognized Naruto.

"It's Naruto!" a vendor shouted. He had been on the unfinished bridge that day years ago and remembered the small boy with the yellow hair. Naruto was older now, and wearing white not orange, but his face was unmistakable.

The crowd gathered closer now, murmuring in excitement. Not only did they remember Naruto, but the bridge builder himself had been regaling them with stories of Naruto and his Heavenly City since he'd gotten back in town weeks ago.

Tazuna himself pushed his way through the crowd. "Naruto!" he gasped in disbelief. He saw Sanjii and Nagi and was about to ask why they were there when he spied Anko on the ground and Iruka being propped up by Nagi. One quick glance at their headbands and he understood the situation.

"This way, hurry!" He spoke with urgency in his voice, leading the way to his daughter's house.

The trio from Tengoku followed without question. Naruto and Senjii picked up Anko's stretcher, walking quickly to keep up with the bridge builder. The crowd opened up to let them pass, excited faces all around them.

As they got to Tsunami's house, Tazuna's daughter, they saw Inari and a very wet group of Tengoku warriors coming from the direction of the bridge. Inari saw them and waved, running fast to meet them.

Both groups got to the house at the same time. It was a flurry of activity as voices overlapped and looks of concern were shared. Tsunade immediately directed Naruto and Senjii to put Anko in the house, riffling through her medical supplies as she followed.

Shizune was examining Iruka outside in the sunlight. He was weak and battered, but not much worse for the wear. His tongue though, that was a different story.

Jiraiya pulled Nagi and Senjii aside, looking to the west. "After what you did, Danzo must really want your heads. We saw what looked like a full regiment sent after you. We should get out of town quickly." He moved inside to discuss this with Tsunade who was examining Anko.

"Outside everyone!" she barked the command. No one brokered any argument, instead heading for the door. Jiraiya glanced at Anko's still form and swore, leaving the confines of the room.

Tazuna was over with Tsunami and Inari, talking in quick soft tones that Jiraiya couldn't hear. The three insufferable academy brats were not far from Inari. Jiraiya scratched his chin. Mabry had said these three were the best fighters in the academy. He hoped the magician was right.

"Senjii. Scout the area as quick as you can. I need to know points of attack against this town. Now!"

Senjii nodded and disappeared. Nagi, Iruka and Shizune looked startled at Jiraiya.

"What's going on?" Shizune asked.

"There's no way we're getting out of here before Danzo's dogs find us. Unless Tsunade says otherwise, and I don't think she will, we can't move Anko any further. It's a miracle she got this far alive." Jiraiya looked off to the West and cursed his own judgment. He should have eliminated Danzo a long time ago for the good of Konoha. He'd let this happen, even if only indirectly. The war-monger was known to the Third for a very long time, and Jiraiya had wanted to eliminate him. The Third had talked him out of it though, said it wasn't politically expedient.

"But it's an army coming here! What can we do against that many ninja?" Shizune asked incredulously.

"We can make them work for it."

* * *

Senjii reappeared, out of breath. "The only way to this island is the bridge. Other than that there's one mile of ocean between the island and the shore. There are no more islands nearby."

Jiraiya nodded. "That's what I thought. All ninja can water walk, so that's a minor problem. I have a seal that I can put in the water surrounding the island preventing water walking. It'll cause very choppy and turbulent surface water. That will make it hard for any but the best to focus chakra well enough to water walk. I'm going to place it on some rocks and scatter them in the water."

Nagi nodded. "There will be some who will manage it anyway you know? The elite?"

"Yes, Jounin would be able to, but I'm gambling that not too many Jounin are with this group. It should be mostly Chunnin level ninja."

"OK, that means the majority of the force has to come across the bridge." Senjii said. Tazuna and Inari had walked over, the academy students in tow.

"Yes, a single point of attack. We will have to defend that as best we can." Jiraiya replied. "But not yet. I can buy us some time setting up a trap zone a half mile leading up to the bridge." He smiled evilly. "I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve, I should be able to bog them down for a while. A day maybe."

Just then Tsunade emerged. "Shizune, I need you in here." She looked bleakly at Jiraiya.

"Any chance we can move her?" Jiraiya asked.

"No. I will do what I can to save her, but… even if she lives…she might never…" Angrily Tsunade brushed the angry tears from her eyes and went back inside, Shizune hurrying after her.

Jiraiya turned back, determinedly. "We will stand and repulse this force from Konoha."

"Yes sensei!" The academy students, Inari, Senjii and Nagi all echoed.

* * *

"We will not run!" A man shouted amongst the crowd, his sentiment being repeated around the square. Tazuna had called everyone in the town together to warn them of Danzo's approach.

"There is a chance they just want Naruto and his team, and will leave us unharmed. Why should we get involved?" A fat merchant shouted out. He was booed and disappeared amongst the anger of his fellow citizens.

"We knew this was a possibility. Ever since news of Konohagakure's conquest of Iwagakure, we knew the Fire Country would eventually set its eyes on us. That day has come," the mayor of the city spoke eloquently and bravely. Tazuna knew the man well, had seen him grow into a fine young man. He was also one who had stood that day on the bridge and faced down Gato's mercenary army.

"If we stand up to the Fire Country, who will we trade with? Our main trade lanes are through their lands!"

"Our pride as a country is worth more than money! Years ago it took the courage of a handful of children to show us the way and to give us back our pride! I say to you, we will not relinquish it now!" the mayor shouted back.

Tazuna was impressed despite himself. In the few short years for this level of pride to develop in his previously defeated countrymen. It warmed his heart. Kaiza would be proud.

"What can we do to help?" the mayor turned and asked Tazuna and the Tengoku warriors behind him.

Jiraiya frowned. "We don't want civilians getting hurt. Anyone who can fight is welcome to, but we urge everyone else to leave this town, head to the other side of the island, to the capital. You will be safe there."

"Fight you say?" a voice drifted out of the crowd. "But for which side? Should Takada throw his lot in with the likely winners of this conflict? Should he side with the underdogs, defending a wretched island from a wicked despot? How do the patterns of Takada's path unfold? Only time will tell."

Jiraiya looked startled at the man who spoke. Six feet tall, with spiky black hair, and a long ponytail that reached his waist. He carried what could only be described as a giant meat cleaver strapped to his back. His clothes were hidden beneath a large gray duster that reminded Jiraiya of styles he had seen in the northern lands.

"There he goes again. Talking in third person. I HATE it when he does that. Acting all self important." A smaller guy, who had to be less than five feet tall poked the tall one. "Nobody cares! Shut the hell up! You think these people need to hear your inner monologue?"

The smaller man's upper arms were adorned with tattoo's, that led into two brass and copper gauntlets on his forearms. His bald head was also covered in tattooed symbols that led down his neck under his shirt. Jiraiya would have bet even money that the symbols were a form of seals that connected from his head to his arms. A large copper buckle on his belt showed the symbol for Kumo, but had a line scratched through it. Two small daggers were shoved into his waist band.

"Takada will one day kill Masahiro. That is assured. One day he will go too far…" The tall one murmured indignantly.

"Oh dry up," the bald one said. "Oy. Looks like a good fight about to go down. We normally get paid for this sort of thing."

The mayor looked at them in disbelief. "Who are you?"

"The name is Masahiro, this tall gentleman with the sense of importance is Takada. Our other friend is around here somewhere, probably sleeping off last night. We were waiting on our client, to guard him on his journey to Sunagakure. It's a long dangerous trip you know."

"You're hired bodyguards."

"Oy, we prefer the term executive escort and protection agents." The small one grinned. "So who's gonna pay our fee for joining in this little fracas?"

Jiraiya smirked. "You're welcome to sit it out. Maybe Danzo's men will spare your life if we're defeated. Then again, maybe not."

The tall one shifted to the left, holding his chin in serious thought. "Takada sees the truth in what the Toad Sannin is saying. Takada has so many roads to walk down, forty two to be exact. The love of his life awaits him at this very moment with bated breath, her heaving bosoms glistening in the noon day sun as she stares off into the distance. Thoughts of Takada filling her mind."

Masahari smacked Takada behind his head. "What did I just say? You don't even HAVE a girlfriend you lunatic!"

Takada murmured softly "…Takada could though…one day…depending on the path…"

"Fine, we'll pitch in. Just tell us what spot you want protected and it's done." Masahari said frustratingly.

Jiraiya nodded, pleased with that.

"Right! Everyone else, please start the evacuation. This isn't a battle that can be won with pitchforks and crossbows. This is an all out ninja fight. So please stay low until it's over."

He turned and walked hurriedly back towards the bridge, mentally mapping out the seals he'd use on the water disruption plan, plus many, many little nasties to slow down the advancing forces.

* * *

Inari and his friends were all tossing rocks into the waters as far as they could throw. Each rock had a tiny seal inscribed on it. Wherever they tossed a rock, a circle of a hundred yards glowed on the water's surface then disappeared. They were just trying to make sure there wasn't any space for a ninja to pass safely.

Jiraiya had quickly raced as far as a half a mile away from the bridge. The force from Konoha couldn't be too far now. Jiraiya starting scratching seals into rocks, trees, anything he could see. Then he focused his chakra and the engravings disappeared, invisible. He called on two dozen small toad summons and sent them off in two directions, to end up back in a large arc at the shoreline. They were to then move in fifty feet and meet back in the center. They'd repeat this as many times as it took to plaster the area with the pack of handwritten seals Jiraiya gave them. When he told the toads what he was intending to do, they cheered. This would be great fun. As fast as he could write he handed out seal papers and instructions. As soon as the first set was away, he moved inwards fifty feet, laying more nasty surprises as he went. Not just seals, but physical traps as well.

The Konoha forces won't know what hit them.

* * *

_Day 1 _

It was a scant two hours later that the leading scouts of the Konoha forces, a team of three Iwa ninja, crossed the half mile line to the bridge to Wave. They'd been in hot pursuit mode, determined to catch their prey before they left the area. As such they were not looking out for any traps.

They triggered the first seal trap. All three hit what appeared to them to be a solid glass which appeared out of nowhere. In their minds the glass drew them in and they were trapped within it, all three screaming as it flew rotating end over end into the sky.

In reality they lay on the ground, comatose, their minds temporarily trapped in a seal triggered illusion.

A few more forward teams arrived mere seconds later to see the scouts petrified on the ground. They immediately halted.

"Trap," said the one in charge. "Bring a Hyuuga up here."

Neji soon appeared at the front of the forces. The full three hundred – minus the three unconscious men – stood in wait behind him. He scanned the forest as best he could.

"I…it looks like the entire forest is filled with chakra. There are traps everywhere, but I can't tell exactly where each one is. Something is….making them fuzzy. " Neji said.

The force commander nodded. This would be slow going. With even the Hyuuga's eyes not being able to pinpoint the traps, they'd have to spring them or avoid them by being extremely careful. If their prey was skilled enough to lace the forest ahead with this many traps, then they could assume the traps would be fairly effective.

"Five teams. Spread out. Find a path through."

The first team of Iwa soldiers had a sensor type with them. He could feel the chakra levels directly to his left and right. It felt low, like they were ground traps.

"We'll go over here," he said, motioning for them to jump into the trees. They leapt into the tree only to find the branch under them melt, allowing their feet to sink in. One took out his sword to cut the branch, but too late as a large log came swinging down. It slammed into them, breaking them free but also cracking several ribs and sending them flying back the way they came.

The second team was comprised of one ROOT member and two Iwa ninja. All were Chunnin level, but had lots of combat experience. They drew their weapons and walked slowly forward, in a spearhead formation. The tiniest piece of paper on a bush ahead caught one's eye.

"There!" he said, pointing at it. They approached cautiously. One of them performed his earth wall jutsu, sealing the bush inside a square mud room. They breathed a sigh of relief, only to realize the earth that the Iwa-nin had used for the jutsu had explosive tags mixed in with it. They had been buried in the ground, and the chakra he had used in the jutsu had activated them. The ROOT member leapt backwards, the Iwa ninja a hairsbreadth behind, but the blast radius was ridiculous. They lay in a singed heap not far from the main Konoha forces.

The other teams did not fare any better. Not making any headway and ending up injured or comatose.

The ROOT commander was angry. He knew the younger ROOT had this emotion trained out of them, but he'd been around a lot longer than most. He did not let it show though, biting down on it. This would slow them down considerably.

"Large scale jutsu's. Fire team at front!" he called out. A trio who were capable of fire blasts stepped forward. With a nod to each other they began to throw fireballs straight ahead. The forest before them erupted in flame.

Two carefully concealed but very large explosive tags ignited under the blaze. Jiraiya was in a particularly nasty mood laying the traps however, as these two had bags of iron pellets wrapped around them. The explosion rocked the front line of the force from Konoha. Nearly twenty died on the spot. Another fifty injured. The ROOT commander himself had taken two pellets in his left arm. They needed medical ninja, but had come with none. For the first time he allowed his anger and frustration to boil to the surface.

"Shit!" He ignored the stream of blood dripping down his arm, the stabbing pains.

"You. Send word back to Konoha that we need a team of Medical Ninja up here immediately. Inform Lord Danzo that we have met with stiff resistance and are working through it now."

The messenger remained expressionless, but he was from Iwa. Bad news was generally never well received. He'd be better off sending a clone to take the brunt of the anger from Danzo.

The commander turned back to his troops. "Find me a god damned way through this mess!"

* * *

_Day 2_

Tsunade emerged, exhausted. She stared up at the mid morning sun. A full twenty hours of operating, healing jutsu and monitoring. Shizune was fast asleep on a couch next to the bed they had Anko in. Tsunade shook her head to clear the fogginess. The depravity of what was done to Anko astounded her. She knew that many in Konoha feared Anko, detested her still, because of her affiliation with Orochimaru. But this went beyond that. This was systematic torture that would have rendered her nothing more than a pile of bruised and bleeding dead flesh if they had left them in Danzo's care for even one more day.

She was angry. Angrier than she had been in a very long time. An explosion rocked the forest to the west. Across the mile wide ocean barrier between the Wave Country and the Land of Fire, and across a large expanse of forest, she could make out a tree falling, smoke rising. She smirked.

If there was one thing that Jiraiya had always excelled in, it was traps. He was creative, he was nasty, and he was strategic.

She felt no sympathy though for anyone in the attacking force.

For the first time, she considered Konoha her enemy. Before it had been Danzo alone. But one man could not hold onto power without help, but only either by the cowards who did nothing or the ones who sought their own power by proxy.

No sympathy at all.

Jiraiya smiled grimly. His traps were working perfectly, but the Konoha forces had still advanced a hundred yards. It would still take them a few days to get here though. He looked over and saw Tsunade walking towards him.

"Anko?" he asked quietly.

"She'll live. How she'll be after what she went through is another question." She looked West. "We still can't move her for at least another week."

Jiraiya nodded, looking back at his map. Wave was a fairly large island, but the one way in or out helped them in this case. His seal stones in the water around the coast facing side of the island really limited access. The traps he'd laid in the forest should delay Konoha, maybe two or three more days?

Then Danzo's forces would push through and they were still outnumbered.

"We need to whittle down the enemy. They can't arrive here at full strength." Jiraiya said. He glanced up and saw the Mayor of the city walking over, followed by a larger, older man.

"Master Jiraiya, this is Lord Gama of Wave Country," the Mayor introduced the older man, who bowed his head respectfully to Jiraiya, who then returned the bow.

"Lord Gama, I apologize for bringing this to your Island..." Jiraiya began.

The noble waved it away. "Nonsense. Not two weeks ago that wretched Danzo sent a formal letter demanding our surrender and absorption into his Empire. We were already drafting our negative response, and expected to face such a threat from him sooner rather than later." He smirked. "At least now we have two legendary Sannin and a host of warriors here to protect us as well. The fates have smiled upon us."

Jiraiya furrowed his brow. Danzo had been looking to expand East, hoping to avoid actual battle and devour other smaller countries by fear. That may be useful information later on.

"It is our pleasure then to be at your service." Jiraiya smiled.

The noble pointed at Jiraiya's arm band. "What is that a symbol of? I notice that the others, including our sleeping Naruto all wear it, though his is gold."

"This is the symbol for our new village of Tengoku. Naruto, is the village leader actually."

Lord Gama laughed. "I see his power to inspire hasn't faded with time." He waved his hand and fifteen men came over. They wore an odd assortment of old Samurai armor and a hodgepodge of ninja gear. "We were beginning to prepare a defense against Danzo's imminent invasion ourselves. These are my personal guard. They're fresh volunteers, but they all will do whatever it takes to protect our island."

Jiraiya looked at them skeptically, but saw the fervent earnestness in the young men's faces. "They will train up well, but I'd rather not sacrifice them in this battle. You couldn't have hoped to stand up to Danzo with fifteen new recruits though?"

The Lord of Wave shook his head. "I'm afraid even though Wave has prospered in trade; much of our money went into helping the people. There isn't a whole lot for hiring an army to fight for us. Even so the nearest sympathetic Hidden Village is Sunagakure, and they are on the other side of Fire Country. This is all we have, and this Island is our home. We'd ALL have fought, but these are our strongest."

Jiraiya nodded. "Do any of them have any abilities I can actually use?"

Lord Gama grinned. "Yume over there can dream walk. Invade people's dreams and change them. Manipulate them." He said pointing to a shy young man with eyes like coal.

"Kisaragi Saemon can assume the face of anyone he touches, and imitate their voice and mannerisms perfectly." Jiraiya nodded. He could use both those skills. One more so if they made it through this.

"OK, send those two to me. The others will head over there," he pointed to a small area where Senji, Nagi and the others were practicing. Senjii was trying very hard to learn the Kawarami technique to switch places with a piece of wood. "And they will train. Learn as much as they can in a short time. I expect the big attack to be in a day. Two at most."

Lord Gama shouted the orders to his men. He nodded to Jiraiya and walked off to see about the evacuation of the city.

Jiraiya looked at the two Wave soldiers. "Yume is it? Tell me more about what you can do."

* * *

The ROOT commander scowled. Their progress was steady but slow. The Hyuuga and other sensors did their best to detect the traps. Then they'd send in a single person to check it. Sometimes they lost the person, sometimes he found the trap. Most times the trap would spring. It worked, it was just slow.

He'd commanded that they sleep in shifts. This campaign would take days, and he needed soldiers who were rested. The first of the sleeping soldiers awoke with a cry. The others awoke one by one, all jumping awake, some with a loud yell, others silently but just as shaken.

"What is going on?" He demanded.

"Just a nightmare sir," one said. "Me too." Another claimed. Soon he realized they all had a 'nightmare'.

"What are you children? If you won't sleep I'll find something for you to do!" He ordered a shift change and the next batch of soldiers to sleep lay down, watching their predecessors oddly.

The commander turned back angrily to his duties. _Iwa ninja were never much of a threat, surely Lord Danzo had overestimated them. A nightmare for godsake._

It took fifteen minutes for the first one to wake up screaming.

* * *

Yume sat in his trance like state at the top of the hill overlooking the island, with Tsunade watching over him making sure he didn't push himself too hard. She smiled silently, having given him the idea for the nightmares he was now inflicting on the sleeping soldiers down below across the water. It was far for him to reach, but the height meant he could reach further, if not for too long.

Tsunade looked West, wondering how they'd fare when the Konoha forces finally broke through.

* * *

_Day 4_

Naruto was anxious.

He'd slept for a full two days and awoke to find Wave under siege. His friends were preparing for the upcoming battle. Planning out streets and hiding places for when the fight entered the town itself. Ero-sennin was coordinating with his summons and laying thicker and thicker levels of seals and physical traps the closer the invaders got to the big bridge.

Anko had survived the trip and the surgeries, so Tsunade had said she'd live. Naruto was grateful for that. He couldn't shake the guilt though of having brought this impending destruction upon Wave.

He needed to do something. Something to help.

Thankfully Jiraiya had a job for him to do.

Naruto was the only one who could make it to the enemy's line and bypass the thick layer of traps Jiraiya had set. His Hiraishin would put him right in the enemy camp. Or more specifically his clones.

* * *

The Konoha forces were ragged. It had been two days with no sleep. The nightmares were obviously a strategy of their prey. The ROOT commander admitted begrudgingly that it was working. Lack of rest dulled their senses. His forces were mostly chunnin, and many lacked the battle experience the older jounin had. The medical team had arrived, along with another hundred Iwa soldiers to beef up his forces. A stern message from Danzo as well. Succeed or pay the price for failure.

They had gotten more than halfway to the edge of the forest, but it had cost them twenty men. More were injured or incapacitated. Soon they'd be through, and then they'd make their prey pay.

"Hey guys." A pop and the Jinchurikki they were pursuing appeared in their midst.

He was holding a handful of exploding notes in his hands and ignited them with a grin. A barrage of kunai embedded themselves in him, only for the clone to explode in a cloud.

Kage Bunshin! The ROOT commander thought as he dove for cover. The explosion rocked the clearing, sending five men screaming and flying in a blast of smoke and rubble. The commander ordered his men into general hidden positions. They had gotten complacent. A single camp was a single target. He tiredly wiped his eyes. _Soon,_ he thought. _Soon they'd break through and make them pay._

_

* * *

_

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura broke Kakashi's train of thought. He sheepishly looked over his Icha Icha Paradise book at her.

"Yes Sakura?"

Their trip had been very uneventful thus far, which was just fine with all of them. They had left the ideal paradise of the Crescent Moon Kingdom yesterday on the Prince's fastest ship. The Prince said he now knew what Ichiru's mother meant, and was going to win her back. So he'd need to stop off at her home island to speak with her, but other than that he'd gladly sail them to whichever port they chose.

The girls had taken to training just as hard as Lee was. OK maybe not as hard as Lee, but pretty hard nonetheless.

Lee was using the ship itself as his workout machine. Climbing masts, and ropes and even the sails. Running on the railings of the ship, around and around in laps. Sakura was working on her Taijutsu as well. Calamity was learning some basic chakra control skills and Hiruka sat weaving together a new scarf. Her ninjutsu required the finest spider silk, infused with chakra during the weaving process. It allowed it to be incredibly strong, and resistant to fire attacks. But she learned that resistant was not impervious. The last scarf had been damaged badly in their adventures in the Crescent Moon kingdom. This one was barely started. It would take days to finish, but she vowed this one would be stronger than the last.

Kakashi himself was still not a hundred percent back to normal. Using the Sharingen always did that to him. A few more days rest – with his favorite book series – and he'd be fine.

"Can you give me some taijutsu tips?" she asked.

"Sure. We've got three days till we get to Wave country and the Prince claims his wife back. Let's see what we can improve on."

* * *

_Day 5 _

"Do you have anyone you can call for help?" Lord Gama said aghast, seeing the map before Jiraiya. Konoha had expanded the size of their forces, apparently determined to take this island. Jiraiya's summons toads had confirmed over four hundred men approaching the far side of the bridge. They'd break through sometime soon and storm across it.

"Yes, I sent the request three hours ago. They should be here shortly."

Naruto stood staring West, he was sure he saw movement in the tree line. "I think they're through."

Senjii and Nagi joined him, flanking either side. The defenders of Wave stood in silence, watching the explosions as the last of the forest traps fell. Wordlessly they all went to their positions. The plan had been finessed for days now. There was nothing for it now but to do their best to carry it out.

Naruto, Senjii and Nagi ran to the bridge. Naruto stepped slightly further ahead, watching as the Konoha forces like dark shadow emerged from the forest. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His right leg behind him, his left leg pointing forward. His right arm extended behind, palm open. His left arm in the same position, but extended in front. His eyes were closed, breathing slowly.

The front lines saw him and paused briefly. Here was one of their prey but he was just standing there. One of the team leaders who had been burned in Naruto's kage bunshin blast trick snarled, infuriated. "Kill him!" He led the charge of four teams, several hundred feet towards Naruto across the bridge, getting within throwing distance of their kunai and jutsus.

Naruto opened his eyes and breathed in deep again. He started to draw in the natural chakra, feeling it swelling up inside him. The winds around him began to swirl at his feet. The ROOT teams saw Naruto was going to try something, but figured he couldn't take all of them out at once.

Naruto brought both hands to his chest, palms facing each other and rocked back onto his back leg. He paused there for a minute. The wind died down completely and the world went silent. Naruto felt the strain in the pit of his stomach and the back of his mind. _No! I took in too much!_

The ninja in front stopped in his tracks. _No. No it couldn't be_. He felt the silence like an iron cloak on him. He felt the cold shiver down his spine. He knew he was facing it. _Death_. He would be dead in seconds. He was staring at Naruto, his white suit looking impossibly pristine, and knew that he would not make it off the bridge. He opened his mouth to say something, but never got the chance to finish it.

Naruto focused his chakra, and found himself having a hard time concentrating the massive pool of chakra into wind. He strained, sweat forming on his brow. He grunted then screamed and pushed his palms towards the oncoming forces.

A blinding white light erupted from him. An unstoppable force of chakra in the form of a wave of light. Senjii thought it resembled the chakra explosion when he'd almost lost control of the Kyuubi back when they'd found old man Tora and his family. The results were similar.

The four teams of ninja disintegrated before they had a chance to scream. The wave pushed on, past them, damaging the bridge. It tore at the concrete like it was paper, ripping up steel and cables, bending it all like a twisted dance. And almost like the bridge had funneled the attack, it actually lasted longer than it should have, shooting out and destroying everything a half mile straight out from the bridge.

Neji screamed and closed his eyes. He thanked the Kami he wasn't looking directly at the burst. For eyes trained to see chakra, that burst would blind most. As it was he was seeing spots and felt his cornea's burning. That must be Naruto. He thought. A different attack to what destroyed the Hokage's tower, but a similar one. When did Naruto become so strong!

Tenten surveyed the damages. The four teams were gone. Not a shred of clothing nor even blood remained. The road along the bridge was impassible now to anything but agile soldiers. The fact that it was even still standing after that was a testament to how well it had been built, and that it had only taken a glancing blow from Naruto's jutsu. If it had taken the full force it would have crumpled like the Hokages tower. And then there was the road leading up to the bridge, for a half mile out, it looked like a category five tornado had hit, and while those standing in the way hadn't been vaporized like those on the bridge, most were still dead and the rest too injured to fight.

The ROOT commander took this all in coldly and with a hand signal ordered four more teams across the bridge.

Naruto collapsed to one knee, feeling exhausted. Through weary eyes he surveyed the damage he'd done. The plan called for him to do some damage, and he'd thought he could handle it, but he'd pushed too hard. The stress of the situation getting to him. He'd absorbed Natural Energy when he really didn't need to and could not control it. Naruto hung his head and felt the waves of exhaustion running through his mind. The pounding in his body.

Nagi grabbed Naruto and leapt backwards with him, away from the fight, leaving just Senjii standing there at the base of the bridge.

There was no way around the swordsman. The four teams didn't even hesitate, unleashing a barrage of jutsu and projectiles at the swordsman.

Senjii knocked every projectile away with his twin kodachi, and took a deep breath. The teams were almost within striking distance now. He sheathed his swords quickly and made a fast hand sign, swapping out for a large block of wood.

Too late the attackers saw that the wood was covered in exploding tags and more of those iron pellets. It exploded and shredded them into chunks of flesh and bloody mist.

Senjii appeared next to Nagi and helped hold up Naruto, the three of them racing off into the town and their secondary positions.

The next wave of attackers made it over the bridge in seconds, flashing quickly to the open area between the bridge and the town. Jiraiya and Tsunade both made their hand signals and called on their biggest summons. Toad Boss Gamabunta and Slug Queen Katsuyu both appeared in a giant cloud of smoke, stopping the Konoha nin in their tracks.

The rest of the Konoha force crossed the bridge in seconds, pouring out of it like ants when their hill is disturbed.

_So Jiraiya and Lady Tsunade are with Naruto. That explains his surge in strength. _Neji thought. He didn't want to go any further, but if he didn't at least appear to want to follow orders, Danzo would have him killed on his return, and Tenten as well. He could however…

"Tenten, Sai," he whispered again. "Head back to the shoreline. We'll circle around."

* * *

The Konoha ninja were no brainless mercenaries or fighters. The sight of the giant toad and slug rattled them but did not slow them down. Teams of three jumped forward, leaping to incapacitate the giants.

"Katsuyu!" shouted Tsunade from atop the giant slug.

"Yes Tsunade-sama!" Katsuyu replied. The slug swelled for a second then fired off her special attack, Tongue Tooth Sticky Acid. The acid was known to be able to melt even stone down to nothing.

The ROOT nin in the front bore the full brunt of the attack; seven out of the twelve attacking ninja screamed in agony as the acid hit them. They fell to the ground writhing for a few seconds before remaining perfectly still, their bodies melting into the ground.

The remaining five ninja in the attack on Katsuyu had pulled a kawarami and allowed five blocks of wood to be dissolved. They reappeared in the air above Katsuyu, aiming for Tsunade. Even though the slug mistress was well known and feared, the ROOT members followed their orders no matter what. Even a former Hokage was not off limits.

Tsunade turned on them angrily. Her mood for the day not getting any better. As she soon demonstrated by grabbing the two closest enemies, her immense strength crushing their necks the moment they were in her grasp and then almost casually threw them in a rising arch back towards Konoha. They actually hit ground on the continent a mile and a half away. Their compatriots impacted moments after them, actually gaining greater distance.

Four more teams lunged at Gamabunta. One team was skilled in fire attacks and were sending fireball after fireball at him. Gamabunta grunted and swung his large tanto. The ninja dodged it, but just barely. Gamabunta moved very quickly for a toad of his size. He leapt into the air and spewed a water attack, washing the offending ninja back into the ocean.

The rest of the Konoha force headed straight into the town, bypassing the fight of the behemoths. The ROOT commander noticed immediately that the town was deserted. He signaled for the force to split into teams and hunt. Find Naruto and his friends. Find the escaped prisoners. Kill everyone.

* * *

_Center of Town, By the Market_

Inari was fidgety. He knew this town better than anyone, so he was point person for his team. Gen and Mirrun were calm next to him. They all wore the training uniforms of Tengoku's academy. White gi's with the Tengoku symbol embroidered into it in gold, a solid iron belt buckle also with the symbol of Tengoku tied it all together. They had all modified them slightly though. Inari had added some leg and arm bracers to his. Gennosuke had added a white hood to his, the white strip of cloth covering his sightless eyes had also been embroidered with the Tengoku symbol. Mirrun had added an inner red top to her gi, and kept that red ribbon in her hair. The necklace she never took off remained visible. Syren's shocking head of blue spiky hair was the first thing anyone saw when they looked at him, but he'd added a few embellishments himself to his clothes. He'd torn the sleeves off his gi and wore iron spiked gloves with leg bracers.

Syran was bursting with energy. "I wish they'd hurry up and get here!"

"They'll be here soon enough," Gen said calmly. "In fact, I see some ninja on the rooftops a hundred yards to our left and closing. Moving very slowly."

Inari glanced at Gen. His chakra senses were unlike anything he'd ever seen before. Gen could read chakra and use it to see, and see further and clearer than any normal person could. "You didn't release any chakra waves, how can you be sure?"

"Are you kidding? That burst that Naruto-sama did a little while ago has the entire island lit up like its broad daylight. I haven't 'seen' like this in a really long time. I won't need to use my chakra bursts for a while yet," Gen replied, with something akin to awe in his voice.

"Is Naruto alright?" Inari asked worriedly. He viewed Naruto as his de-facto big brother, and was worried about him, he'd looked so tired earlier.

Gen nodded. "He's still leaking some chakra, but he's in the secondary position. No one's anywhere near him.

"Let's go get those guys on the roof. How many?" Syren asked.

"Three. Coming towards us, the others broke off towards those mercenaries." Gen replied.

Inari nodded. "Right. Mirrun with Syren on this one. Gen and I will watch your back."

The four of them leapt onto the rooftop. Straight ahead in the dusk were three silhouettes. Charging straight in was not something that most ninja were trained to do, better to attack from hiding places. But Mirrun and Syren were better at direct attacks.

The two academy students sprinted towards the three Iwa soldiers soundlessly. The adult ninja prepared to cut down the children who were charging straight at them. Things however, did not go as the attackers thought they would.

Syren became a ball of solid water, hitting the first man in the chest. The ninja's sword cutting through the water harmlessly. As the man fell back Syren solidified holding onto the man's shirt, his legs brought up to his chest. Syren pushed backwards and kicked forward, sending the ninja flying straight down through the concrete roof.

The Iwa-nin who was going to cut Mirrun in half saw a glimpse of her golden eyes and froze. Where did she go? He felt something below him and looked down in time to see her fist connect with his groin. Mirrun, Gen and Syren grew up on the streets. Dirty street fighting was something they learned in order to survive as best they could. The soldier doubled over but Mirrun wasn't finished. She grabbed his collar and jumped straight up, ending in a handstand over the ninja's head. He looked up in horror as she twisted his neck, and came down behind him, bringing her knees into his back, folding him like a rag doll.

Inari smiled. Mirrun had a doujutsu that allowed anyone catching her eyesight to lose a few seconds of time. That guy had never stood a chance.

The third man however was bringing his sword to bear on Mirrun. Both Gen and Inari fired off their weapons at the same time. Gen carried a brace of throwing knives. Tiny things, but with his deadly accuracy they were lethal. Inari opted for a pair of mini crossbows like Calamity on Sakura's team used. He'd always had an affinity for the crossbow as a weapon. His bolt and Gen's knife hit at the same time. The ninja died with a gurgle, the two weapons glinting silver and red in his throat.

"OK position two, follow me." Inari said, leading them off that roof to another.

* * *

"Ready?" Senjii asked.

"Want to make it interesting?" Nagi asked. They emerged from their hiding place at the very start of the town. The main Konoha force had passed them, so it was time for the second stage of Jiraiya's plan to go into effect. Naruto had split off from them; his part in the plan was coming later.

"How much?" Senjii grinned.

"Loser cooks on the journey home. Every day!" Nagi cracked his neck.

"Deal! You're going to be sorry you brought this on yourself!" Senjii laughed. He hated cooking. "Highest body count wins."

Senjii pulled an exploding tag out of his shirt and threw it high into the air. It exploded in a shower of sparks. They raced into town, behind the Konoha forces.

At the same time, on the other side of town, the three mercenaries Takada, Masahiro and Mizurai saw the signal and leapt forward. Jiraiya's plan was simple. Lure the main forces into the town. The defenders would pick off who they could, but when they saw the signal, get to the north and south edges of the town to prevent anyone from escaping. The two teams on either side would then move in and attack both in front and behind. If the Konoha ninja were able to withstand that, they'd then face the attacks from both north and south as those teams move in.

It turned the entire city into an ambush site.

Senjii drew his twin Kodaichi and lunged forward. Two teams of Konoha attackers were right in front of them. The dimming evening light was perfect for an ambush as a person's eyes had to adjust. He slashed through the three closest to him. Flipping in midair and landing on top of another, driving him into the ground, cracking his spine.

"Four," he counted out loud. "Five, six... ten..." he continued as he cut down two more and then tore through another four with a single stroke.

Nagi swung his arms left then right, turning his whole body into a classic capoeira kick. His foot finding a ninja's face. He spun again and this time the ninja went flying, spinning until he landed in a heap. Another ninja rushed him but Nagi spun his lower leg forward around, swiping at the attackers legs. The attacker stopped and raised his forward leg, avoiding the swipe. Nagi then stopped the same leg that was swiping in mid kick and went up on his arms in a crescent kick to the man's head. The ninja had some skill and blocked it, but Nagi bent the leg, allowing it to pass by the man, both legs touched down and he back-flipped, clipping the ninja in the face.

"Seven, eight, nine," he counted out loud in time with the rhythm of his movements.

Nagi grinned and melted into the long shadows on the ground. It was dark now, and everywhere was in shadow. His next spinning kick came from out of the ground, impossible to predict. The ROOT nin's head snapped back and he crumpled in a heap. Another ninja jumped in but Nagi jumped at him and they both went falling back into the shadows. Only Nagi appeared, attacking another ninja.

Senjii saw that and shivered despite himself. Nagi's ability to carry people into the shadows and leave them there was downright unsettling. Nagi explained that once he let go of someone in the shadow-world they became a shadow themselves. It was instant death.

"Thirteen!" Nagi called out after he reappeared.

Senjii surged forward, determined not to lose.

* * *

The three mercenaries lunged straight ahead. Not many Konoha forces had made it this far ahead, but some had. At least five teams of three rushed to meet them.

"Takada?" Masahuri asked a silent question as he started to focus chakra.

"High likelihood that if you break left you'll survive. Avoid the third one from the right's reach. The way he wears his suit implies a touch based skill. Mizurai if you can use your jutsu in exactly two minutes and twelve seconds you'll save our lives. I'll recalculate after they split up."

Masahiro nodded. Takada had a skill that was most useful in a fight. He could see probabilities. All outcomes based on moves. So what lines or moves a person or group would do based on movements. They had worked together for many years now and it never ceased to amaze Masahuri how accurate he was.

Masahiro let the chakra flow from his mind into his arms, extending the long blades from his arm braces. The blades were chakra infused and could cut through anything. The diminutive man lurched forward and cut a swath through the oncoming forces.

Takada drew his weapon, the gigantic meat cleaver that Jiraiya had seen earlier. It was a fearsome weapon that looked far too heavy for him to wield. But even at a thin six feet tall, Takada was sinewy muscle and with ease turned the blade outwards. The rushing ninja tried to dodge it but Takada stopped the cleaver in mid swing and rotated the handle in his palm, slicing the man's back open.

"Takada saw that dodge coming. Your friends will jump and come in low. Takada will slice the one in the air and cue-ball will distract the ground attack."

"Did you call me cue-ball again baka?" Masahiro shouted at him while slicing through a ninja's sword like it was butter. The fallen ninja fell into the path of the ground attacker. Takada met the air attack and parried his blade, knocking the ninja aside with his fist.

He turned to see how Mizurai was doing and saw him forming water balls and firing them at the oncoming ninja. Each one hit like a rock, guided to their target by chakra. Mizurai's short red hair was standing out starkly in the dusk light.

The mercenaries were holding their own against the attackers, but there were too many of them. More and more poured into the street where they were fighting. Takada showed an uncanny ability to dodge and predict attacks, and Masahiro's blades were nigh on unstoppable. But sheer numbers threatened to weigh them down.

Mizurai finished the count in his mind. Exactly two minutes and twelve seconds. He quickly went through a complicated series of hand seals, finishing with a shout.

"Water Octopus Carousel!"

The moisture in the air was plentiful enough to respond to his jutsu, forming a giant water octopus. Each tentacle rushing out, away from the center. Masahiro and Takada found themselves right next to Mizurai just as the Octopus began to spin. With immense force the water beast's tentacles lashed out in a violent spinning motion. Everybody in a fifty yard radius was slammed away by the impact.

"Takada?" Masahuri shouted above the din.

"We must leave now, a hundred percent probability we will not survive the next attack. Wait…" He turned and lunged for Mizurai, pushing him out of the way as a battle axe tore through the spot he was just standing. The soldier who had thrown it scowled in frustration at having missed.

Masahiro, sweating profusely, managed to detract one of his blades and threw a shuriken attached to an exploding note high into the air. "OK, time to move. Secondaries." The three of them vanished into a side alley and disappeared.

* * *

"There it is." Mabry pointed as the wind stream carried them towards the town by the bridge in Wave Country. The battle seemed to be raging relentlessly. It had been a long time since Mabry had seen something like this. Not since his youth.

"Let's do it." Tenchi said. He held aloft his naginata, and pushed against the wind stream with a small chi attack. It was enough to break the stream temporarily and drop them all a mile above the battle.

Guererra did a few hand seals and doubled in size, hardening until his skin resembled rock more than flesh. He fell like a cannonball into the middle of a street, exploding in a cloud of dust. He clambered out of the hole looking for his first battle in almost a year.

Tenchi aimed for a slanted rooftop. He plummeted towards it, but hit it at a roll. He rolled twice, three times, then came up in a run. He ran off the building and jumped to another roof slightly lower. He was immediately accosted by seven Iwa soldiers, all of whom fell to his blade.

Mabry was not known as the greatest magician in the world for nothing. Even if that title was self bestowed. He threw a small senbon attached to nearly invisible steel wire into the wall of a bell tower. He attached the wire to his belt and swung in a circular motion to break his descent. He landed attached to the wall and grinned, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Old man Tora held onto a large piece of Heavenstone he'd gotten from Yoshi. With a few handseals he performed his bloodlines trademark jutsu, transforming an inanimate object into a living creature. The fifty pound block became a fifty pound eagle, just large enough to carry the diminutive old man on its back, flying him safely to the ground.

Yoshi fell with an umbrella attached to his back. It was not just any umbrella, it was a giant red umbrella. As he floated to earth, he saw the remains of his Daedelus machine in the water by the bridge. "My Daedelus! What have they done to you?" He was completely oblivious to the soldiers waiting for him to land, the giant red umbrella attracting a lot of attention.

Guerrera had landed close by though and the masked giant wrestler collided into the group sending them clattering into the dust. Yoshi landed and didn't even look at the soldiers, instead running across to the water's edge. Looking longingly at his ruined winged device. An Iwa-nin rushed him from the side, he glanced at him and dodged the swing of the soldiers blade. With a quick swivel he pushed the blade into the ground with one foot, and kicked the man in his face with the other. Yoshi's eyes blazed. He saw another Iwa-nin and jumped at him, he landed on one leg, and turned a hundred and eighty degrees, smashing his free foot into the soldier's temple.

* * *

Inari and Gen took on two tough looking soldiers. Inari used a combination of taijutsu and some underhanded tricks he had picked up from his street fighting friends. He ran right at the ninja, but dropped to his knees at the last minute, skidding underneath his legs. He slashed at the man's ankle as he passed, felling him. He turned, but before he could do more the man smashed his fist into Inari's temple, sending him careening across the rooftop.

Gen used a pair of escrima sticks as his melee weapons. He swiveled at the waist in a complete circle, dodging the ninja's attack, then lashed out with one of his sticks with a quick flick. The ninja blocked with a single butterfly sword, slashing with the other. Gen ducked under the attack, flipping completely, coming at the ninja's head with a crescent kick.

The ninja blocked it with his upper arm, then stabbed forward, but Gen had already landed and sidestepped. He swept for the ninja's feet but the ninja somersaulted over his swipe. Gen hit the ground with both his escrima sticks then looked at the ninja disconcertingly through his cloth covered eyes.

With a flurry of attacks he lunged at the man, forcing him into defense, backing him up. The ninja misstepped suddenly and cursing fell off the roof. Syren and Mirrun were rushing in to help Inari but would never get there in time.

A sudden sense of something moving and Master Tenchi was standing there, his naginata sticking through the Iwa-nin attacking Inari. He turned to his pupils. "Good job so far."

Gen turned towards the others. "Something is going on. All the chakra in the area is being sucked up." Tenchi nodded and motioned for them to follow him, starting to run towards the next rooftop.

The others followed, Inari asking Gen, "What? What do you mean?"

"I mean all the residue, all the chakra that Naruto-sama had released and was leaking, is going back the way it came. It's all being sucked back into Naruto-sama!" Gen said with concern in his voice.

"So what?" Syren asked. "He's supposed to be executing his part of the plan about now."

"If you could see what I see…it looks like a storm. A storm and Naruto-sama is the center of it."

* * *

On the other side of town, Senjii and Nagi were making their way through the attackers. They had gotten bogged down in the battle as well. Sheer numbers threatening to overwhelm them.

"Dammit!" Senjii exclaimed. A lucky kunai had nicked his face, sending blood trickling down his forehead.

Nagi as well was having difficulties. Every ninja he attacked was instantly defended by many more. He had resorted to mostly shadow attacks and he couldn't keep that up for very long, his chakra reserves were already low. He could feel the exhaustion coming on.

"I think this is the best we can do!" Senjii said, blocking a furious attack from two Iwa soldiers, the sound of the blades clanging in the now rising moonlight.

"Agreed!" Nagi said, disappearing into the shadows. He reappeared a second later in a flying cartwheel kick that broke a man's collarbone. "Time to move!" He threw a shuriken with an attached exploding note high into the air. Then dove for Senjii.

Senjii grunted and closed his eyes tightly._ God Nagi just don't let me go in there!_

Nagi grabbed him about the waist and they fell backwards into the shadows, disappearing.

* * *

_Naruto, you know you're tired. _The voice said.

"No," Naruto replied weakly. He'd pushed himself too far, he thought. He could barely stand. All the chakra he had expended over the past week. Those Hiraishin jumps, the wind push against the Hokage's tower. The blast on the bridge. Naruto felt…empty.

_I can help. I can lend you some power. Just let some seep through. Loosen this seal just enough. Your friends are out there. Dying for you. Can't you feel it? The hopelessness?_

"I…I can't feel them." Naruto had started to be able to feel people while in Tengoku. The chakra laced wind had helped him hone in on that skill. Since then he'd felt...something. A small tug at the back of his mind. A knowledge of his friends existence maybe. He couldn't explain it. But right now, all he felt was…

"So tired."

_Yes Naruto. I know. But my strength will be your strength. How long has it been since you felt my power. The power that you shun. Let me show you what I could do for you._

"NO!" he shouted, snapping his eyes fully open. "I don't need your power!"

Naruto started pulling in chakra from his surroundings. Drawing in the natural energy like Pa and Ma toad had taught him.

_Fool! Not now! You are too weak to handle Gaia's force! You will kill us both!_

Naruto ignored the voice, pushing on, drawing in all he could, to strengthen himself. "I can do this. I can protect my friends!"

The clouds above the town began to swirl. Slowly at first, but then rapidly. Pulling in moisture and filling the night sky. The unnatural movement causing the air to mix and spin, forming massive lightning storms above, illuminating the city.

The battles began to slow down and ninja and defenders alike looked to the sky as it swirled.

"Jiraiya." Gamabunta said, looking up at the sky. "This is not good. That's Natural energy. That could only mean one thing."

"It's Naruto. He's drawing in too much power. He'll level the city at this rate."

"Katsuyu, take me to Naruto!" Tsunade shouted, at the same time that Jiraiya asked Gamabunta to do the same.

"Hai Tsunade-sama!"

Gamabunta leapt high into the air, his dark shadow eclipsing the battles between the forces of Tengoku and Konoha. Katsuyu moved with a rapid speed that belied her size, zooming down the main street of the town. Jiriaya and his toad arrived first, landing safely on the other side, while Katsuyu was still making her way. She ran over and slimed many soldiers who did not get out of the way fast enough.

Jiraiya dismounted, running for the small grove they'd told Naruto to rest and wait until he was needed again. Tsunade was not far behind him, having leapt off Katsuyu as soon as she broke past the edge of town.

As they broke into the clearing, they saw Naruto kneeling, eyes illuminated by light, absorbing what looked like a tornado of chakra.

"Naruto! Stop!" Tsunade shouted over the gale force winds around the teenager.

Jiraiya grimly raced in and clocked Naruto on the side of his head, knocking him down. Naruto lay there as the gale force winds died down. The sky began to clear again.

"Ow!" Naruto said, sitting up. "That hurt!"

"It was supposed to baka!" Jiraiya said, clouting him behind his head. "What the hell were you doing?"

Naruto yawned. "I was tired. Chakra levels were low so I figured I'd top up with Natural energy. Better than the alternative I figured."

"Alternative?" Jiraiya asked. Naruto pointed sheepishly at his stomach where Jiraiya knew the cursed seal lay.

"You cannot handle that much Natural Energy. Don't ever try that again. You could have burst, become an explosion of energy. Your body itself converted into chakra!" Jiraiya shouted at him. Naruto sat their wide eyed.

"Ohhh. I didn't know that." He rubbed the back of his head. "I feel great now though. How's the battle coming?"

Jiraiya and Tsunade looked towards the town and saw the remains of the two flares still drifting back down to earth.

"Not good I'd say." Tsunade said. "But reinforcements have arrived from Tengoku."

"Well, let's even the odds just a little bit more!" Naruto jumped to his feet and used his favorite technique. "Taju Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

* * *

Masahiro fell backwards. He'd met another chakra weapon user and they'd so far been an even match. But the ninja's were not playing fair, and it was not a one on one match. Two other chakra weapon users had joined the fight. He'd so far managed to avoid a fatal wound, but he was bleeding a good bit.

Takada had cut large swathes out of the forces, but they were being overwhelmed. He had a hard time predicting moves with this many factors in the battle, plus fighting at the same time. Even he had been hard pressed, and suffered at least one very bad gash on his leg.

Mizurai lay in a pool of blood, neither one if his friends daring to look too closely. They'd have to check on him after the battle was over.

"If the tide doesn't turn, I'm afraid Takada's love interest waits for a warrior that will never return home," he whispered to himself.

Suddenly a sea of white appeared down the street. It looked like a wave of water, but after a second they all realized it was a thousand Naruto clones, all in white, running full speed.

The main reason Danzo had sent so many soldiers after Naruto was this ability. He had demonstrated when he destroyed the Hokage's tower that he could create great numbers of shadow clones. But the Konoha forces were now spread all over the city, and been cut down immensely in numbers by the spirited defense they had met.

The soldiers were not dumb; they realized very quickly that the tide had turned. Those that were able too, disappeared, fleeing the city to regroup. The Naruto clones stormed over every part of the town like a solid blanket. Some ninja choose to fight, and were quickly taken care of by the sheer volume of Naruto clones.

It took a few minutes, but Naruto's clones covered every inch of the city looking for more ninja. He was cheered on by the weary defenders, Senjii, Nagi, Mizurai, Masahiro, Takada, Tenchi, Mabry, Old Man Tora, Inari, Gennosuke, Mirrun, Syran, and even Yoshi.

When every last remaining Konoha ninja had left the city, the clones stood at the end of the bridge, on the side of the city, daring them to come back.

* * *

Neji and Tenten emerged from their hiding space inside an empty store. Neji saw what was going on, and couldn't believe how many clones Naruto had managed to create. Good solid ones too. He quickly formulated a plan in his head.

"Sai, check the windows." As the ROOT nin turned to look out the window, Neji hit a pressure point behind his head, sending the boy into unconsciousness.

Tenten nodded in approval. She flung the door open and shouted at a group of clones nearby. "Hey Naruto!"

The clones looked over in shock. "Tenten?"

* * *

"We need a way to stop them from coming back over the bridge." Tsunade lamented. "This is a stalemate."

She tended to the wounds of the defenders. Most everyone had been damaged in some way or another. Shizune and the building that Anko was resting in had remained unscathed. It was on the outskirts of town, and as such the attackers had not taken much interest in it, deserted as it looked.

"Hey what ship is that?" Inari asked no one in particular. There was a very large, very fast ship approaching from around the side of the island, but it didn't seem to be heading for the dock. As they watched, the ship turned and its cannons fired a volley.

"Are they firing on the Konoha forces?" Calamity asked.

The first few shots missed, and Jiraiya saw what they were planning. "No. They're not."

The next volley hit. The Great Naruto Bridge crumbled like dust under the heavy cannon fire. They fired volley after volley, to the cheers of the people on the ship.

"What the hell are they thinking?" Tsunade asked dumbfounded. "Wave Country needs that bridge in one piece! That bridge is their livelihood!"

Jiraiya nodded but noticed it was successful. Naruto voiced what they were all thinking.

"With the bridge gone, they can't attack can they?"

"Well, no. Not until they get some boats." Jiraiya admitted. The large ship turned and was coming back to dock. Within minutes it had tied off to the dock, and a giant plank extended.

They all gathered by the docks to find Kakashi, Sakura, Calamity, Hiruka and Lee standing there grinning. Accompanying them was a very fat man who looked like royalty and Lord Gama.

"Sorry we're late for the party." Kakashi said with a smile hidden beneath his mask.

* * *

It was hours later that they all understood what had happened.

"So I signed the agreement immediately with the Lord Gama and we have an accord. The Wave Country is now partnered with the Crescent Moon Kingdom. As such new trade lanes will be established. Konoha may own the land on this side of the continent, but for all intents and purposes we own the seas. We will send a notice of the partnership to Danzo and cut off the ocean to him if he doesn't respect our territory. Fire country depends on much from the sea." Prince Michiru said proudly.

"What if Danzo attacks you?" Naruto blurted out, incredulous. This Prince was a great man! He thought to himself. Lord Gama as well! They'd worked out a way to no longer need the bridge access to the mainland.

Prince Michiru shrugged. "I doubt he would. This campaign must have cost him too much already. Politically my Kingdom is aligned with all the countries to the north and island states. He cannot afford to make enemies of all of us. A few months embargo would drive that point home."

Lord Gama winked at Naruto. "Also, the criminal Naruto he was chasing would no longer be in our territory, but we will inform him that we are keeping a very sharp eye out for his return. He is wanted for property damage and endangering the life of our citizens."

Jiraiya smiled. He glanced at the far bank and saw that a few Konoha soldiers still stood there. Probably posted as guards until they get further orders from Danzo. This would effectively block off this part of the world from Danzo's ambitions. For now. Guerrera, Tenchi and Mabry were making a sweep of the town, looking for any stragglers that Naruto's clones may have missed. Yoshi was working on something or the other on the edge of the group. Old man Tora had created a few small eagles from stones and sent them to spy on the Konoha forces. Amazingly the eagle he'd made from Heavenstone on his initial descent was still around and not looking like it was going to fade any time soon. He'd just blamed it on the material and sent it to scout the perimeter of the island.

Of the fifteen guards Lord Gama had provided, only four remained alive. The dreamwalker had been ordered to stay out of the battle, and the others had fared badly against the massive attack. The one who could take on the appearance of anyone had been sequestered away by Jiraiya. The spy master had a very interesting plan forming and he wanted someone with that skill. A skill greater than a simple henge.

"You realize all of this is a temporary measure. Eventually he will have the forces he needs to take what he wants without caring about the politics of it all." Jiraiya said.

The mayor nodded. "We are with immediate effect creating a protection force for our trade route. With funding from the Crescent Moon Kingdom we will hire the best fighters we can find to train some of us. Many in the city were upset that they could not help today. We will learn how to defend ourselves."

Takada grinned and raised his hand from the stretcher he was laid out on. "Takada sees a way to become wealthy without traveling too far."

Masahiro's head snapped up. He opened his mouth to argue but just shook his head. "Fine, we'll stay here. But only as long as we're paid up."

Mizurai, the last of the mercenary trio smiled widely. His wounds had proven to be less than fatal. Tsunade had earned her reputation as a medic. "Perfect! I would not mind settling down here for a while. That cute barmaid might favor a man who defended her hometown."

Naruto looked from one to the other and smiled widely. The Prince looked at Naruto. He had heard about him, the founder of Tengoku from the girls. He'd also heard all the stories from his retainers. He looked like an impressive young man.

"Naruto. The Crescent Moon Kingdom is officially aligned with the Hidden Village of Tengoku. As such we defer to you in areas of defense."

Naruto stood in shock. "Well… the plan seems OK. Maybe we can send Tenchi over as well from time to time to check on progress." Tenchi nodded his acceptance of that idea.

Neji cleared his throat. "If I may interject." A few Naruto clones as well as Mabry, were escorting him and Tenten. A few others had an unconscious Sai being carried over their heads.

Eyes narrowed and weapons drew as they saw the Konoha headbands. Neji raised his hands as did Tenten.

Naruto and Sakura were surprised to see them, but not as surprised as Lee was.

"Teammates! Neji! Tenten!" He raced over and squeezed them tightly.

The defenders relaxed slightly.

"Oof. Lee?" Tenten said. "What the hell are you doing in the middle of this? You're supposed to be training off in Sunagakure with Gai-sensei!"

"Sensei ordered me to train while on this mission with Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan." Calamity and Hiroka were a little indignant to be left out of Lee's explanation, but stayed quiet nonetheless.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, happy to see a familiar face, but a little apprehensive given the circumstances.

"I don't know if Naruto clued you in, but there's an underground movement against Danzo in Konoha."

Naruto shook his head. "I didn't have a chance. Shikamaru is leading it," he said turning to Sakura.

"Yes, and Danzo has some idea of its existence. He also suspects the Hyuuga house of plotting against him. I surmise he sent me on this mission as a test of our allegiance." Neji said plainly.

"What are you proposing?" Jiriya chimed in. Clearly this boy had though things out a bit.

"I will ask that you wound us, not severely please. And bind us along with Sai. He is a ROOT member, but…an odd one. Allow us to escape when he awakens and we will flee, perhaps after Sai witnesses Tenten stab a Naruto clone? Something that will give Danzo some reason to stop the attack for now?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Not a bad plan, but I can improve on it."

* * *

Sai opened his eyes groggily. Within seconds he took stock of his situation. Tied to a chair. His face felt sore. He'd been beaten. He looked left. Neji as well. He saw blood trickling down his teammate's unconscious face. His left arm had a kunai embedded in it still. He looked right.

Tenten was also tied, but she was awake. Her face too was bloody. One eye was sealed shut. Sai thought back. They must have ambushed us, the Naruto clones.

He realized they had no guards, but he could hear voices in the other room. He took a deep breath, and with a quiet grunt dislocated his shoulder. He slipped out of the ropes. He pulled the kunai out of Neji's arm. Neji's eyes snapped open but Sai covered his mouth with his hand.

"Shh. I will cut you free," Sai whispered.

He sliced through Neji's ropes, and then Tenten's. Tenten almost fell into Sai's arms. "She is hurt badly," he said matter-of-factly to Neji.

Neji nodded. "You are the most able. Carry her, I will lead." Neji grabbed another kunai that was on a table next to the door. He eased it open and Sai could see Naruto talking to Iruka who was being bandaged by a young girl.

Neji took a breath and leapt into the room. He sliced Iruka's throat, a spurt of blood gushing everywhere. Naruto rushed in, about to make the seal for a shadow clone when Neji kicked him in the face. He slid across the floor. Sai propped up Tenten, he wanted to join the fight but Tenten was holding on to him tightly.

Naruto got back to his feet and Neji threw his kunai. It flew straight and true, it hit Naruto in the stomach. He doubled over. The girl in the room screamed helplessly. Neji turned to Sai.

"Let's go! Quick! Help will be coming!"

The trio leapt out the back door. They realized they were near to the water. They could hear curses as people found Naruto and Iruka. With a glance they all jumped into the icy night water. It was maybe a mile swim to the other side, but hopefully they could make it in their condition.

Tsunade watched them go before releasing the genjutsu. Years of practice had made her rather skilled at illusions. Most people couldn't even see through the one she kept on herself to make her seem young.

Naruto held up the stick Neji had thrown at him. "Boy he doesn't play around. That kick in the face was real enough."

"Let's hope Neji's plan works to ingratiate himself with Danzo." Jiraiya said.

"It's a bold plan. Let's pray first that they can swim to the far shore. It's freezing!" Mabry said wryly.

"Right!" Naruto said. "Now how do we go home?"

* * *

**Authors note:**

An amazing job done by my beta this month! So much so that I'm reluctant to limit calling him my beta as much as a co-author on this chapter. Thanks Evil Joshua!

This chapter was enormous, more than 15,000 words and it took forever to get right, including some major re-writes. That's my excuse for it taking so long and I'm sticking with it!

To answer some questions:

1. Yes Akatsuki will be in this story. Just not yet. It all ties in, trust me.

2. Again, not a romance story, so don't expect any huge relationships

**Characters submitted and used:**

Masahiro by Decmitor1  
Mizurai by Waterblade  
Takada Shoubushi by Cross writer453


	23. Chapter 23 : Alliances

**Chapter 23  
Alliances**

_1 week after the Konoha Attack_

"Are you sure this will work?" Tsunade looked doubtfully at the seal on her palm. A glance around the room they were in showed that everyone else was having a similarly hard time believing the words of the seal master.

Jiraiya looked stricken. "You doubt me? I who taught the Fourth? I who once created a seal on a pair of eyeglasses that allowed it's wearer to see through walls for five hours?"

Tsunade chortled. "Those glasses caused five days of blindness after. And you only ever used it on the bathhouse!"

Jiraiya grinned. "Ahhh….good times." He cleared his throat with a blush. "Anyway, this works on the same principle as an animal summons. These are temporary contracts each of us has signed with Naruto. He can now summon us to his location, at which point the seal wears off. Perfectly harmless."

"But I'm right here," Naruto chimed in, confused. Up his left and right arm were seals written in a small amount of blood and ink. Each person in the room had sacrificed the drops of blood for Jiriaya's plan. It had taken him an hour to draw the blood and write up the symbols, a unique one for each user.

"Yes, yes," Jiraiya confirmed testily. "You are here right now. But you won't be for long."

"But HOW?" Naruto said exasperated.

"Naruto, Summons can summon their summoner," Jiraiya said, not for the first time. Naruto screwed up his face at his teacher, sticking out his tongue.

"So the messenger I sent a few hours ago to Pa Toad should have delivered the message already. He's in Tengoku. He will summon Naruto, and then you, Naruto, will summon us. One at a time. Got it?"

Naruto sighed. "Yes I think so."

Jiraiya nodded and glanced at the clock. "You should be summoned in the next ten minutes or so."

Naruto looked at his friends in the room. Senjii and Nagi were leaning against a wall on the far side, playing a card game with Tsunade and Shizune. Judging from the smiles on his team mates faces, and the scowl on Tsunade's, he could tell who was winning. Old Man Tora was fast asleep in a chair, his snores blending into the background noise. Tenchi, Mabry and Guerrera were going over some plans they had for the Ninja Academy they were helping the Lord of Wave Country with. It had already been decided that they would take turns checking up on the school. The three vagabond warriors that had helped in the fight against Konoha had proven to be skilled enough to be assets to the school. They were happy to stay and teach, and defend Wave if they had to. Mostly because of the money that now seemed to be no object since Wave had joined with the Crescent Moon Kingdom. Naruto suspected it was also because they were good people, very deep down. He grinned, thinking about the rapport of the three warriors, deciding he will miss them.

Yoshi had fixed his Daedelus flying machine and insisted he fly it back to Tengoku. He replaced the soluble glue with a water proof one he had gotten from Wave, and repaired it almost perfectly, with some extra features.

"…I'm adding a chair on top of the Daedelus. It's just crazy to hang from it by your hands. That would be pure lunacy." He had said. Tsunade, who remembered hanging from the wings as indeed pure lunacy, had chased Yoshi right around the village.

Yoshi had figured that if he ran the Daedelus off a cliff, he'd get enough wind beneath the wings for a flight. Tsunade had grinned and encouraged him to do just that. She had seemed disappointed when it worked though, Naruto thought. Yoshi had left yesterday, bound for home.

Inari stood off to the side with his grandfather and mother. Tazuna was staying behind to build up the Wave's defenses; however his mother was coming along. She did not want her son living on his own, and had been pretty upset with Tazuna when he had returned without Inari. Tazuna joked he'd rather face another attack from the entire armed forces out of Konoha than face Tsunami again.

Gen, Mirrun and Syran all talked animatedly amongst themselves, still reliving the battle from a few days earlier. Sakura, Calamity and Hiroka were talking to Kakashi about increasing their training regimen as soon as they got back home. Naruto was thrilled everyone had survived, relatively unscathed.

Lee stood off to the side just smiling at everyone. He wasn't coming with them to Tengoku. After they left he was setting out for Sunagakure. His sensei would meet him there eventually. Lee would have liked to go with Naruto, but he recognized the need for him in Konoha. If there was any way he could assist in the underground fight against Danzo he would. He swore a personal oath to it.

Anko was still unconscious in a stretcher next to Tsunade. Both she and Shizune kept a sharp eye on her. It was safe enough to move her now Tsunade had declared, but she still hadn't woken up yet. The scars on her body seemed a little lighter to Naruto, but he tried not to look too much. Iruka sat next to her in silence, a sad expression on his face, his hand holding hers. He looked up at Naruto and he barely recognized the young ninja who once was the dead last. Iruka intended to come with them as well, until he could figure out what to do about Danzo. For some reason though, he felt part of that would have to do with Naruto.

"You know Jiraiya, when we get back, I have a seal I'd like you to start thinking of," Naruto said with a grin.

"Hmm? What's that." Jiraiya responded, distractedly, watching the clock tick.

"Something to keep these white clothes clean. White gets pretty damn dirty in a battle." Naruto said with a smile.

Jiraiya turned and laughed. "There's one already, though it's not used much. Sometimes it's good to be able to get dirty, helps you blend in to the environment if you need to get covered in mud. You never know."

Naruto grinned back. "OK, so maybe something we can activate when needed to clean the clothes."

Jiraiya nodded. "Sure, there's that. We'll see."

Naruto opened his mouth to ask something else but he popped away in a cloud of smoke as he opened his mouth.

* * *

Naruto looked around incredulously. Where before he was in a room with Jiraiya and his friends, he now stood in the middle of a seal on the ground and Pa and Ma toad staring at him through the smoke his transportation had generated.

"Hey Naruto," Pa grunted at him. "You've been gone far longer than you were supposed to!"

"Leave him alone Pa," Ma said. "He's still alive, that's gotta count for something."

"Hmph!" Pa grunted and hopped off. "Training starts back tomorrow Naruto!" he said as he disappeared around a corner.

Naruto smiled at Ma and shrugged. "Thanks Ma. Things just sorta happened."

"That's OK Naruto, just summon everyone else back now," she replied.

Naruto nodded and tried to remember what Jiraiya said. He drew his blood and focused on the images of his friends. Focusing as much chakra as he could towards it, he slammed his palm down into the ground.

With a cacophony of noise and a massive puff of smoke, the space they were in was suddenly crowded.

"What the hell!" Tsunade shouted, holding her hands over her ears. "That was loud!"

The others likewise were wincing. Jiraiya glanced at Naruto.

"I didn't expect you to summon us all at once! The noise from all that summoning was deafening!" he said disdainfully.

Naruto frowned. "Well… at least it worked. That means we don't have to trek for days and weeks to get back home once we go out."

Jiraiya nodded. "Yeah, I'll work on a more permanent seal." He headed down the street towards the village bar. "…but first, I'm parched."

The others likewise scattered, glad to be back home. Tsunade and Shizune watched carefully as Guerrera and Iruka lifted the stretcher Anko was laying on and walked slowly and steadily to the hospital. As Guererra was walking an elderly woman from the village met him, holding his daughter Gabrielle in her arms. He smiled at his daughter, who cooed back at him.

Sakura and the rest of the Tennin squad each headed back to their homes, looking for a change of clothes and a bath. Tenchi and Old Man Tora walked across to the Academy, laughing quietly to themselves about something that escaped Naruto.

Mabry headed over to the orphanage, his arms full of slips of paper. He had secured a good bit of trading deals that he would work out with the traders in Tengoku. Naruto didn't see where Kakashi disappeared to.

Senjii and Nagi fell in with Naruto as they walked into the White Tower. Naruto looked back over the village from the top of the steps. It really bustled with people. He saw Ali coming towards the tower from his guild house. Naruto waited for him, taking in the view.

The Academy building looked almost complete, as was the hospital. A few of his clones still moved around, but not as many as he had left behind. It had been a few weeks since he left, so that was to be expected he supposed. In the field behind the Academy, students were going through the chambers Old Man Tora and Sensei Tenchi had created. Idly Naruto wondered who was overseeing their training.

"Naruto!" Ali called out. "It is good to see you back."

"Nice to see you too Ali!" Naruto smiled, and waved. "Have Ravi and Rasheed arrived as yet?"

Ali shook his head. "No, they're still a week away. I've gotten word from them though. I don't suppose you can summon them here like you just did everyone else?"

Naruto frowned. "I don't think so. Jiraiya had to do a complicated blood seal for it to work."

Ali shrugged. "That's OK. They'll get here soon. They're trustworthy, as far as thieves go." He grinned. "And I feel sorry for anyone who tries to waylay them on their journey." His smile however quickly turned into a frown and a flash of anger crossed his face.

"However, on another matter. I do not appreciate being left here to babysit while everyone else runs off to battle. Think you that the Spirit Wolf clan has no honor? Are we not warriors? Or do you see us as nursemaids fit only for taking care of the children?"

Naruto held up his hands, now understanding what Tenchi and Old Man Tora were laughing about. "Hey, I had nothing to do with that. I suppose someone had to stay behind though right?" Naruto thought quickly, looking at Senjii and Nagi for help, both of whom seemed fully intent on pretending to ignore the conversation. "Besides, I trust you and your clan, otherwise I wouldn't leave my village in your hands while I'm gone. That's got to count for something, right?"

With a scowl Ali stomped off to find Tenchi. Naruto turned sheepishly to go further into the tower.

* * *

"Tenchi!" Ali's voice bellowed from the road outside the academy. "I have a score to settle with you!"

He burst through the doors, looking for his prey; his eyes alight with an inner fire. Old Man Tora nodded his head towards the back training field. Ali blew past him like a thunderstorm, not even sparing the chuckling old clan leader a glance. Tenchi was waiting for him, still smiling.

"You!" Ali accosted him. "You left me here like a wet-nurse. As if the Spirit Wolf Clan are nothing but women!"

"I'd not let Tsunade hear you say something like that," Tenchi smirked. "She wouldn't take kindly to it."

Ali paled slightly for a moment, and then re-focused. "I demand my right for retribution, for the honor of the Spirit Wolf Clan."

Tenchi nodded, tightening the grip on his sword. "First blood?"

Ali drew his urumi, "Agreed."

No students were supposed to be around, all having been sent off to run the chambers again. Of course children being children, they seemed to smell the impending fight and soon a small crowd of Academy students were peeking over bushes and stone walls at the fight.

Ali struck first, his urumi lashing out with the speed of a whip towards the left side of Tenchi. Tenchi drew his sword and raised his scabbard at the same time, fast enough to block the attack, the tip of his sword remaining in the case. He knew that he could not hold back in a fight such as this. While not quite a duel to the death, people had been known to die from this sort of Blood Draw fight. There were no rules on how MUCH blood could be drawn.

Ali pressed his attack, pivoting while swinging the sword around his hips, passing it from hand to hand, the tornado of slashes a lethal attack to any lesser swordsman. Tenchi parried and stepped back. He crouched and drew his sword, slashing to the right of Ali's midsection. His slash missed though because Ali was rolling under it neatly. Tenchi dove over him, knowing that the Wolf Spirit Clan leader would raise from the roll in a slash designed to spill his intestines on the floor.

Tenchi slashed downwards as he spun, this attack meant to lay open an opponent's spine, crippling them. He would never use it against someone he didn't intend to kill, or against someone he knew wouldn't block it.

Ali blocked it easily, his urumi slashing over his body while he sprung to his feet. Both men stood facing each other, feeling the warmth of blood rushing through their veins. This was the fight they had hoped for in the exhibition match. An all out blade master battle. Ali allowed himself a smile, his anger dissipating, replaced instead by the thrill of battle.

Tenchi struck first this time, his sword slashing diagonally up and to the right, then down, then diagonally up to the left. The criss cross pattern missing over and over again as Ali alternately twisted his body to avoid it, bent and spun around it, then knocked aside Tenchi's sword with the flat side of his urumi.

Tenchi stepped back and sheathed his sword quickly. His leg muscles contracted tightly, his center of gravity shifting forward. Ali recognized it instantly, it was the Batoujutsu Tenchi had used before in their 'demonstration' fight.

Tenchi exploded forward, his sword draw impossibly fast, before Ali had used a dagger to deflect the blow, this time he countered with an attack of his own. He too exploded towards Tenchi. His tactic simple, he rammed straight into Tenchi before the drawn sword could complete its arc and reach him. His shoulder connected with the middle of Tenchi's chest, stopping his forward motion and sending him flying backwards, air and blood coming out of his mouth in gust.

They both landed in the dirt in a tangled heap. After a few seconds of stunned silence, Ali burst out laughing. When Tenchi was able to breathe again he joined him.

"I never thought of that as a possible counter." Tenchi managed to gasp out.

Ali chuckled. "Kalarippayattu teaches that the simplest attack is often the best."

Tenchi wiped the blood off his mouth. "Satisfied?"

Ali stood up and offered his hand to Tenchi. "Yes. My clan's honor is intact. Let's take you to Tsunade, make sure I didn't crack any of your ribs."

* * *

Danzo eyed the report before him and cursed inwardly, even though his expression gave no indication of his feelings. The campaign in Wave had become far more than he expected. Not only had it cost him hundreds of warriors – even if they were mostly Iwa nin – but politically it had cost him dearly. The document he had just read was a formal missive from the Eastern trading block. Any further moves on his part against Wave, who was now a part of the Crescent Moon Kingdom and as such a fully protected member of all those islands and coastal countries and their collective forces, would be met with a blockade.

Despite what many thought, Danzo was neither reckless nor a fool. The truth of it was he needed the Eastern traders to be amenable to his empire. You can't have an army if you can't feed them or clothe them. Since his conquest of Earth Country, trade had dried up with the Wind Country. That blasted whelp Gaara had closed off their borders and prevented any trade caravans from crossing. So all trade and goods solely came from the East; the island kingdoms and coastal cities.

So Danzo could not afford an embargo with the Eastern Kingdoms. His eyes closed into near slits as he inwardly fumed at the boy who had caused all this. He should have killed Naruto when he had a chance. By all reports the brat had set himself up halfway across the world, well away from the affairs of the major countries. The destructive power with which he had crumbled the Hokage's tower worried Danzo. The boy had obviously tapped the Nine-Tails within. That was a problem that needed dealing with.

He leaned back in his chair, holding onto that thought. He needed Naruto either taken care of or kept away until he could rebuild his forces. Danzo did not like the idea of being at the mercy of other countries. These petty logistics were an annoyance. He would appoint someone to fix that problem. Someone loyal.

Danzo had no shortage of loyal men. One such boy had left his office not more than ten minutes prior. The ROOT member 'Sai' had given a very clear and succinct report on the action in Wave. His team's capture and escape was…interesting. Danzo believed what he said…but he knew better than to think Naruto was dead. A kunai to the chest may not have been enough. Even if that was the real Naruto. By all accounts there were thousands of clones running around.

The account did show him that he could add two more loyal members to his list. Neji was a powerful warrior, and important clan member. The girl Ino showed immense potential right here in his employ, those mind tricks of her clan were renown.

He shook his head. Naruto. He had to deal with that threat. A slow frown spread across Danzo's face, that became resolve. He motioned for one of his guards and called for a messenger-nin. He would 'outsource' that particular problem. And maybe kill two birds with one stone.

Writing on a piece of paper, and sealing it with wax, he handed his message to the ninja who appeared moments later.

"Take this to the Hidden Grass Village!" he barked the command.

The man bowed, "Whom do I give it to my Lord?"

Danzo smirked. "Don't worry, he will find you."

* * *

Shikamaru slipped unnoticed into the small shed behind his father's house. He glanced around quickly to ensure that he was alone. Once he confirmed it, he closed his eyes and listened carefully. The only sounds he picked up where the crickets in the yard. They had stopped for a second when he passed, but they were back making their melodic music. Anyone who would have followed him would have had to pass the same way and disturb them. In that way, they were nature's alarm system.

Relatively satisfied he pressed a board on the floor that slid away to reveal a hole and a ladder. He slipped down it quietly, closing it behind him. When he got to the ground floor he was greeted with a nod by his father, the large shelter lit by a single dim kerosene lamp.

"Glad you made it son."

"The place is still in disarray after Naruto's attack." Shikamaru shrugged. "Danzo is still collecting his wits about him, and consolidating his army I imagine."

"Yes," Shikaku confirmed. "We are moving our patrols in tighter. There doesn't seem to be any action planned at the moment."

"OK," Shikamaru nodded. "Shino and Kiba are at bunker seven with Asuma-sensei. He's recovering quickly."

"That's good. Tell him his nephew is for now being largely ignored by Danzo. Konohamaru is keeping a low profile. Kurenai had a talk with him to make sure he doesn't stick out too much. Best Danzo forget he's there for as long as possible."

Shikamaru nodded and sat. He closed his eyes, pushing his fingers together. His dad let him think, instead looking closely at his son, taking in every detail. Shikamaru looked harder. His face was set, what little body fat he had was converted to lean hard muscle. Clearly he had been training hard while in seclusion.

"Father." Shikamaru said, eyes still closed. "I need to increase my attack capabilities. Any move we make now would result in defeat unless we can all attain a level that surpasses that of the current clan heads. I've discussed this already with Kiba and Shino. We need all of our generation who are in the resistance to surge ahead. I think, yes, I am sure, that with that level of power we could attempt to remove Danzo but not before."

Shikaku stood up and walked over to a small table in the corner of the room. It was covered with a thick film of dust. This bunker had not been used in fifty years, before either of their times by generations. From the time of the First Hokage. All except for a single bound leather book. It bore a symbol of the Nara clan and their techniques. He picked it up and walking over solemnly, handed it to Shikamaru.

"In here are all the clan's secrets. Our most fearsome techniques. More than half of these I myself have never attempted because of the risk to myself. Some have been forbidden. Some long forgotten. Shadow users have been around since the beginning of the Ninja way. We have cousins in far flung countries who use variations on our techniques, where they have some of their own jutsu. I've heard of a family that could travel via shadow. Physically melt into a shadow and appear out of another. I've heard of another that could send out his shadow, disconnected from his body. All the notes we have on those and our guesses on how it's done are in here."

Shikamaru rocked back with the words of his father. This book represented the entire shadow user history and knowledge.

"I will speak quietly to Shino's father and Kiba's mother. Come here again in one week to collect similar compendiums for them both."

Nodding, Shikamaru stood. "We will also need Neji, Hinata, Chouji and Lee trained as well."

"Don't worry, they will be."

Shikamaru walked over and gave his father a hug. A deep sincere one.

"One year dad. I promise you in one year we will be ready."

* * *

"Ku ku ku ku ku," Orochimaru chuckled to himself quietly, lounging on the throne like chair he sat in. The dead messenger in front of him had not even tried to fight back. He glanced at the scroll on his lap again and waved his hand at the body in front of him. Two of his Sound ninja grabbed the corpse by his arms and dragged it out of sight.

"What does it say?" Kabuto asked speculatively.

"It seems our old friend Danzo is extending us an offer." Orochimaru chuckled again. "We will merge Grass Country with Rock and Fire. In exchange we will have free reign to conduct our little experiments."

Kabuto was rocked back on his heels, a shocked expression dominating his face. He pushed his glasses back along his nose bride – a habit he displayed when deep in thought.

"Is he sincere?"

Orochimaru grinned. "I believe so. We will of course take our precautions, but he wants something from me, and is offering something I need. Test subjects. Ku ku ku ku."

"What is he asking for?"

"In due time Kabuto, in due time." Orochimaru cackled. "And what do you think about this apprentice?"

From the shadows the red eyes of Sasuke Uchiha peered into Orochimaru's. "I don't care."

Orochimaru barked out a laugh. "Excellent, perhaps we can even test your new skills against some of your former friends."

The laughter echoed in the dimly lit cavern.

* * *

The Spirit Wolf Clan members Ravi and Rasheed were in foul spirits when they arrived in front of the guild house a few weeks later. Their clothes were ragged and the camels were nearly dead on their feet. However the huge sacks containing the gold and jewels were intact. Mostly.

So Ali reported at the meeting table set up on the top floor of the Tower.

"They made good time considering they were attacked twice by less honorable raiding thieves." He chortled. "Clearly people unfamiliar with my clan."

"Well at least the gold reached Tengoku safely. I gotta ask though, why didn't they just seal it away? Make it lighter for traveling?" Jiraiya asked speculatively.

"Oh I can answer that." Tenchi interjected, scratching at the bandages wrapped around his decidedly cracked ribs. "In this part of the world we do not trust things taken from scrolls. All may not be what it appears to be. There is a story a long time ago of a man who paid an assassin with 'gold' taken from a sealing scroll for carrying. The assassin went back to his village and discovered the gold had disappeared. It was a trick you see, the seal scroll had temporarily created this 'treasure'. Of course the assassin found the man and tore out his heart, but it was a lesson well learned."

Ali nodded. "We have all heard the story for generations. It is considered useless, any treasure taken from a seal scroll. No one will touch it."

Naruto spoke up. "I'm glad Rasheed and Ravi made it OK."

"They're glad too. I'd say they kept enough bars and baubles for themselves to keep them in good women and wine for months when they get out into the world again." Ali laughed.

The whole table smiled. Thieves will be thieves, even honorable ones. And they had earned it.

Tsunade cleared her throat. "Next order of business. The hospital is fully functional. I will be splitting my time between there and training Sakura, now that she's back from gallivanting around the world." She turned to Sakura. "I hope you don't think you're going anywhere for the next few months. We have a lot of catching up to do."

Sakura saw the glint in her Sensei's eyes and swallowed. The girls' team was gathered in the far corner of the room, standing next to the boy's team. Only what they described as the village council - Tenchi, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Mabry, Guerrera, Tora and Naruto were seated.

"I have to report that training at the school is going very well. The first student team of Inari, Gen, Syren and Mirrun performed admirably in the Wave defense. I'd say given a year again, they can be used as a young genin team." Tenchi said happily.

"Hmmm..." Jiraiya puzzled out loud.

"Oh what is it you self-righteous toad?" Tsunade asked exasperated.

"I was thinking, we are not really training _Ninja_. Our teams are very broadly based. Look at Naruto's team. We have a Ninja, a Samurai, and a Capoerist. Sakura's team we have a Ninja, a Kung Fu practitioner and an Archer. That same team, Inari's, we have an Archer, a Water bender, a Blind Ninja, and a Doujutsu user."

"What's your point Jiraiya?" Tenchi asked testily. The Sennin had a habit of rambling when he was on to something really important.

"Just this, I don't think the terms Genin, Chuunin, Jounin etc apply to our teams. I propose a new grading scheme for Tengoku."

"I like it!" Naruto said excitedly. "But what?"

The table was silent for a minute as everyone thought deeply.

Surprisingly Old Man Tora was the first to speak. He did so with a laugh. "Well everything here is based on the idea of Heaven, so I say go with it. The Academy graduates would be Tendou, the next level up would be Tenshi, then Daitenshi after that."

Naruto looked puzzled. "Tendou?"

Mabry laughed. "Baby Angels. Cherubs. I like it."

Tsunade smirked. "So I'd say my apprentice's team are Tenshi, Angel class. With some work I can get them all up to Daitenshi eventually."

Jiraiya looked across at Senjii and Nagi. "You guys as well. Tenshi level. You will need to work harder."

Both boys nodded in agreement.

"Hey what about me?" Naruto asked. He was afraid to hear the answer though. The knowledge that he'd never passed above a Genin in Konoha, and even that took him three tries, still remained with him.

"Ah Naruto. Well we need to talk about that. As a warrior you have moments where you are above a Daitenshi. Then some weaknesses that I'd say are solidly Tenshi level. However, your sheer power, even with your control being what it is now, are…well enormous." Tenchi said musingly. "That plus this letter from the Island Nations leads me to propose something."

"What letter?" Naruto almost shouted.

"Why the letter officially recognizing Tengoku as the Hidden Village of the Island Nations. It arrived by carrier hawk this afternoon. Even with our distance, our ability to be there in hours rivals that of any other country's hidden village. So with that in mind, coupled with a few other things…"

"Other things?" Mabry asked with a smirk in his voice. Naruto glanced from one to the other. There was a smile on everyone's face. Were they making fun of him?

"Why the stories are growing and growing about our Naruto here, did you not hear? Naruto the City Destroyer. Naruto the Shinigami. Naruto who broke a sandstorm. Naruto who faced down Danzo the self-proclaimed Emperor of the West and crumbled his tower. Naruto, the leader of the Heavenly Village..."

With a pause, Tenchi leaned in and his eyes took on a dark tint. "… Naruto, the Shadow of Heaven."

There was silence around the table. After a few beats, Mabry spoke up. "Now that's a name to bear proudly."

Naruto was dumbfounded.

Jiraiya clapped Naruto on the back. "Gaki, the world will call you Tenshikage, the Shadow of Heaven. We both know you need more training though right?"

Naruto nodded dumbly, too shocked to grin. So his friends did it for him, pride swelling in the room.

* * *

Nagi stretched and yawned. Dawn had come and gone several hours ago, yet he was only now stirring. He sat in his bed and stared out the window. From his vantage point in the tower, he could see the students training. Tenchi and Tora were pushing them hard. He could make out Inari's team, doing a chamber that the others had not reached as yet.

Across on the other side of the village he saw the still figure of Naruto with Ma and Pa toad on either side of him. Naruto was doing the natural chakra control exercises that were necessary for him to progress in his sage training. Nagi stared at them for a few seconds before seeing movement a little further down the same field. Senjii was training as well, practicing with his new swords. The enchanted twin kodaichi were still unfamiliar to Senjii.

Since the meeting a few days ago everyone had thrown themselves into their training with renewed vigor. Word of the adventures of Naruto and the all the teams had spread through the village like wildfire. There was a sense of immense pride that their village's name was spreading, and that their leader, Naruto, was garnering such respect.

Nagi himself however, wasn't sure where to begin his training. He had learned his fighting from a fellow refugee many years ago. While they had been on the run from various warlords, he had been instructed in the forms that Tenchi referred to as Capoeira. But Nagi was no fool, he knew he was a novice at best at his martial art. The only thing that elevated him beyond a Tendou in Tengoku standards was his use of the shadow arts. And that was something he did instinctively.

He had approached Tenchi who admitted he was unable to instruct him in Capoeira. He knew of a few men who practiced it, but none were accessible. Tenchi had then gone on to suggest that Nagi consider the still building Tengoku Library. There may be scrolls there of worth to him.

Nagi had as yet found nothing. He was not the only one though. On one of his excursions to the massive pile of unsorted scrolls that was the 'Martial Arts' section, he was joined by Calamity. She too had no way to further her art. She was an archer who realized that she was dead in close combat. Also, she wished to improve her archery skills and had yet to find someone to help. Kakashi was not an archer. He offered to teach her basic taijutsu but she did not feel that was a good fit for her.

Thus it was that a friendship was struck up between the two of them. A camaraderie of hopelessness. Nagi shrugged and went to get ready. Today they would look some more.

Fifteen minutes later, Nagi exited the Tower, and walked down Main Street towards the Library. He waved to Guererra and his baby Gabriella as he walked by. She was walking now. There was still a ready supply of young village girls willing to baby sit and play with her, so Guererra had plenty of time to help out at the Academy and with the clones in finishing the village's construction.

In front of the library Calamity stood waiting on Nagi. He waved to her and she smiled back, but only briefly.

"Morning Nagi, another day spent looking through a mountain of dusty scrolls," she said plaintively.

"Yup," he said simply. There just wasn't anything they could do about it.

"Yeah. Have you had breakfast yet though?" Calamity asked.

"Not really hungry," Nagi shrugged. "But we can go if you want, the scrolls aren't going anywhere."

They walked off the steps of the library, heading around the corner to the tea shop they had been coming too for the past couple of days.

The proprietor was a kindly old man who had to be pushing eighty. His tea shop was immaculate, and the tea was the best Calamity had ever had. He greeted them with a smile as broad and earnest as the sun.

"Good morning my young friends." He ushered them to a table by the window.

"Morning N'uihc." Calamity returned the smile. She genuinely liked the man.

"Ah my child! You have finally said my name right." N'uihc beamed happily. "I cannot tell you, the laughter of the spirits of my ancestors at my misfortune. Poor N'uihc being called 'New Hick' or 'Nuck'. It was enough to make me almost desire a more common name like 'Bob'." He chuckled at his own joke and went over to another customer.

There were two other tables occupied, and the citizens all seemed to be animatedly discussing the stories they had heard about the adventures of Naruto. The treasure hunt had grown in leaps and bounds, until he now seemed to have waved aside the sandstorm with a flick of the wrist, and faced down the King of all Ghosts in the pit of hell to return with the Treasure that now burst at the seams of the vaults in the Tower.

Nagi frowned in annoyance. He and Senjiii may as well have not even been there. Those versions of the story he had heard that did mention them relegated them to mere bystanders.

On one of the tables was a crew of boisterous brothers who had built a cattle and pig farm at the edge of town. They were larger than life, the four of them all ranging over six feet tall with shoulders as broad as a doorway. Calamity had heard from her father that they were extremely hard workers. Orphaned at a young age, they had stuck together to make something of their life. They had a farm before in the northern regions of the badlands, but a raiding party from the Blood Country had destroyed it all, and killed the wife of the only married brother. That had happened a few months before the populating of Tengoku and Naruto had personally selected them to join his new village.

One of the brothers was drinking sake, heavily. The others seemed to be consoling him as best they could. From what whispers of the conversation they picked up, Calamity and Nagi gathered it was the anniversary of his wife's murder.

"What will it be this morning young ones?" N'uihc asked gently.

"Tea and a bento box for me please," Calamity answered.

"Just the tea for me," Nagi chimed it, gazing out of the window. The village had really come together. It felt complete. Like a home he never had.

"Hey you!" the drinking brother called out to N'uihc. The old man smiled at him kindly and walked over to the table.

"Bring me a bottle of Sake. Now!" the well on his way to inebriated farmer bellowed.

"It is early in the day to fill your body with such poison. Against my advice you drank that bottle which you brought into my store. I do not carry poisons on my menu. I will ask you once more to refrain from disturbing my other customers." N'uihc calmly told the farmer.

One of the other brothers at the table put his hand on the one that was drinking. "He's right Chang. Let's just go home. We have more sake there."

With a wrench, Chang pulled his shoulder away from his brother and stood up. "No! I like it here and I asked you to bring me a bottle of sake! What kind of shop doesn't have a few bottles of sake?"

N'uihc looked up at the man who stood almost a whole head taller than him and said, "I am but a frail old man. Would you crush me with your giant hands? Just to fill your body with poison? If you wish to kill yourself please do it outside of my store. I am sure your woman would be proud to see what has become of you, threatening a frail weak old man."

Nagi and Calamity got up to intervene. They'd not stand by and watch what was about to happen. Chang's face went red. His eye's bulged in their sockets. There was a scrape of chairs as the other brothers rose to intervene as well.

They were all too slow though as Chang reached out with a back handed slap that was intended for N'uihc's face. Why, he would show the cruel old man! What did he know of pain? The pain of losing the woman you loved!

The thing was, his fist never connected, N'uihc seemed to waver before him and his hand passed swiftly by his face, mere inches from it. Then there was pain. A sharp blinding pain in his temple followed by blackness.

Nagi didn't see anything too suspicious. The bigger man had swung, missed then passed out drunk. Nothing too strange about that. Except that N'uihc hadn't moved. Not an inch. His hands were behind his back. Nothing too strange about that. But his face hadn't ever stopped smiling. He never seemed in the least bit threatened by the bigger man.

Nagi hadn't survived in the badlands on his own by being stupid. As the other brothers apologized profusely for their drunk sibling who had passed out, Nagi noticed a small red welt on the unconscious farmers left temple. He glanced back at N'uihc who was waving off apologies.

"A man must mourn a loss of a loved one. But then he must move on and be a man. This pitiful self-mutilation, poisoning one's system with alcohol, is befitting of a child only." The old man the apologized to his other customers and showed the brothers to the door, assuring them they would be welcomed back tomorrow as usual.

Nagi and Calamity sat back down and exchanged a glance. Good, Nagi though, she caught it too. For the first time they noticed the aura around N'uihc. It was an aura similar to that of Tenchi, Jiraiya and Tsunade. But harder to pick up.

When he came back with their order, Calamity asked him casually. "Where are you from originally N'uihc?"

The old man smiled broadly. "A small village in the armpit of the world. A village that no longer exists."

"Tell us about it," Nagi asked, genuinely curious. N'uihc looked at them and gave a small laugh.

"It has been a while since I've spoken about my beloved village. It is a story for another time. I have customers. Perhaps another day I will regale you with the story of my home, Sinanju."

He walked over to greet two new customers, showing them to a table.

Calamity looked puzzled. She glanced over at Nagi. "You know, I think I've heard that name somewhere before."

Nagi shook his head. "Not me. I've never heard of it. But it's pretty obvious that N'uihc is more than he seems to be."

The two of them finished their breakfast and headed back to the library, thoughts of the enigma that was N'uihc getting lost in their search for more information on their arts.

* * *

_Konoha_

If a fly had wandered into the room at that moment, it may have died from the tension alone. On one side stood Orochimaru and Kabuto, with Sasuke standing off to the side nonchalantly. On the other, Danzo stood with the remaining three of his most trusted guards, Centipede, Snake, and Scorpion. Danzo still cursed the loss of Gecko in Naruto's attack.

Danzo had just reiterated his deal to Orochimaru who had chuckled slightly, but not answered as yet.

The silence stretched on, and Danzo tensed almost imperceptibly. If Orochimaru attacked now, it would be close. Very close. Even with the amount of hidden ninja he had nearby, this was a Sannin in front of him. Danzo himself may be able to take him, but it would be close.

"We will accept." Orochimaru hissed with a giant smile on his face. "Of course my apprentices and myself will be removed from the Konoha bingo book." It was a statement not a question but Danzo nodded anyway in response.

"Ku ku ku ku. Splendid!" Orochimaru cackled.

"In return you will create for me an army that no one in the world has ever seen." Danzo said with iron in his voice. "I still believe that nothing can take the place of a highly trained soldier. But I need numbers, and I do not care what methods you employ."

"We have an accord."

Sasuke eyed the proceedings with rancor. He had heard about the destruction that dobe had wrought upon the village. He had almost not believed it until he'd seen the rubble that was the Hokage tower. His eyes had filled with frustration at how far ahead Naturo had gotten. The advantage being the container of the Kyuubi had given the dead last. Sasuke had told himself he cared not what Naruto did. He was not competing with him, all Sasuke cared about was killing Itachi. But that felt less and less true as he heard about his former team mate. The twinge of anger when he heard he'd be banished. The small spark of pride that preceded the resentment at the stories of his growth and strength. Orochimaru used it as a tool to ignite the fire within Sasuke and inspire him to train harder.

Sasuke had no problem letting Orochimaru think such elementary psychology was working on him.

He glanced sidelong at Orochimaru. The Sannin was a fountain of knowledge. Just when Sasuke felt he might be peaking, and the time would come to kill Orochimaru, he showed Sasuke something new and invaluable. He was no fool though. He knew that Orochimaru intended to take his body as a host. That was a year off still though. So he had some time.

Time to train.

Time to plan.

* * *

Hinata went through the moves again. Her father watched without saying a word. His eyes focused on every twitch of her muscles, checking for any imperfections in her form. This would be the twentieth time she was trying it this day, and so far, he had spotted none.

With a release of breath she slapped the air in front of her and pivoted. Her back hand raised then came in close, elbow almost touching her body. Her knees bent then extended, helping her arch and flip in a perfect crescent. And so she moved, hit, bend, turn. Faster and faster. The chakra was visible in her palms now. A faint image of twin lion heads extended several inches away from fists. This was the style Hinata had asked to learn. She had perfected it a month ago, and was now moving beyond it, into something new. Something she had wanted to try.

Hiashi Hyuuga watched with pride as she began the new movements. Instead of the constant ebb and flow of the normal open fist style, Hinata was using lightning quick movements and stops. The flow would speed up then stop abruptly. The force however would not be stopped in her hand, but pushed forward simultaneously.

The attack was devastating on a target. It did more than just close a Tenkatsu, it rended the target point. When Hinata had first been successful on the theory, it had converted a board not into two even halves as in other open fist attacks, but into a perfect hole, sawdust exploding out.

Crack!

He saw that she had reached 'that' point. Her speed and force of chakra had combined to go past the point where a normal person could have safely moved.

Crack!

Her hands slapped the air. The sound barrier being broken again and again as the _Lion Fist _attack took on a much more vicious nature.

Crack! Crack! Boom!

Perspiration dripped down Hinata's face. The exertion was starting to take its toll. She focused her eyes on the imaginary target before her. Saw in her mind the possible defensive moves and moved to counter, attack, push, destroy.

"Enough!" Hiashi barked, not without softness in his voice however.

Hinata slowed to a stop. Her technique had a major flaw still. It relied on momentum. She could not stop at will, it had to be slowed to a stop or she'd tear her body apart. After a few seconds, she was at a standstill, panting heavily. She glanced over at her father. Beside him stood Hanabi who was smiling broadly at her older sister. Their relationship had improved by leaps and bounds over the past few months.

"That technique is a force to be reckoned with daughter. A juggernaut that would be almost impossible to defend against once you get going, however it is far from finished." Hiashi said calmly.

"Yes father," Hinata panted.

"You have come far in a short time my heir."

"I have much further to go still," she said, her eyes glinting with steely determination.

* * *

_Tengoku_

The first thing Anko saw when she opened her eyes was the ceiling fan. As far as she knew, hell had no ceiling fans. The way her body hurt though it had to be hell. She groaned and a face came into view. It was a young girl who looked at her kindly yet uncertainly.

"Shh. Try not to move too much," the girl said quietly.

Anko tried to talk but felt the raspiness in her throat. It was as if she had swallowed a buttload of gravel. The girl anticipated this and gave Anko a cup. She took it gratefully and poured it back, disgusted to find it filled with only ice. She let a piece of the ice hit the back of her throat and it was like fire. After a while though it felt good.

"Where… where am I?" Anko asked. Her memory was hazy. She felt she should know.

"You're in Tengoku. Please, try not to speak too much," the kindly voice spoke again.

Anko closed her eyes. Tengoku? Heaven? Well why was she in pain then. Why?...

It all came back in a flood of memories. Her arrest by Danzo's goons, the cell. The first guard who…

Tears came unbidden, streaming down her face. As each horror replayed in her memory a sob escaped Anko. She felt like a mound of pain wrapped in her old skin, the mental scars of what happened ripping her to shreds.

Tsunade walked in a few minutes later, telling the young trainee to leave. She held Anko's hand, letting her get it out of her system. Anko registered it was Tsunade next to her, but couldn't stem the tide of her pain.

They stayed like that for almost an hour, Tsunade not saying a word. Anko finally had nothing left. The tears stopped, the sob's disappeared. Her eyes looked at Tsunade.

"Tengoku?"

"A village that Naruto started. Halfway around the world from Konoha. It's a name that befits the place, as you'll find out soon enough."

"How did I get here?"

"The Konoha underground got you out. They contacted Naruto who brought you to me. A lot more happened besides that, but that's the essentials."

Anko nodded, glancing down at her arms, all she could see above the sheets. They were scarred horribly. She shuddered to think what lay beneath the sheets. She steeled herself.

"Tell me... what happened to me?"

So Tsunade began the litany of horrors that she deduced had been inflicted upon Anko. She did it in as clinical a way as possible, leaving nothing out.

Anko nodded at the end of it all. "I remember, some of it." She stared out the window, hearing the sounds of birds and feeling a breeze on her face. She was alive.

Alive and she would be able eventually to extract her revenge. Her eyes closed into slits.

"How soon will I be able to move?" she asked.

Tsunade looked hard at Anko. "Walking? A week maybe. More than that is up to you."

Anko nodded. She was strong enough to do this. A fire of hatred began to burn in her belly. It would require hard work to do this, but that fire would feed her, support her. Anko was accustomed to doing things through sheer will power. It had helped her survive Orochimaru, her sensei. It would help her survive now.

"Naruto," she said quietly. "He made this place? Brought me here?"

"Yes." Tsunade said proudly.

"Tell me about him."

* * *

Iruka sat silently looking out over the village his student had built. It was a huge accomplishment. The swelling of pride he felt was something never before experienced. Many students go on to be great ninja, but few went on to be great leaders. And Naruto, even though he had help, had become such a person.

He sighed. The loss of his tongue was a severe price. It meant he could not teach ever again. The problem of Danzo seemed very far away in the idyllic little village. But all was not as it seemed. Naruto had gathered some incredibly strong people around him. Some had potential to be even stronger. Iruka was happy to see so many familiar faces around his former and favorite student. Sakura, Jiraiya, Tsunade, even Kakashi.

Iruka wanted Konoha to be free of Danzo. He did not envy the task the others had taken upon themselves. He however could do very little at this point. He was a fugitive, and not the best warrior in the village. He was still a Chuunin of course, but he was no Kakashi. His gift had always been teaching.

The odd scientist was walking by at that moment, his arms full of books. One fell from the massive pile in his arms. He struggled for a few seconds to retrieve it himself, but Iruka was there and picked up the book, handing it back to him. Yoshi smiled at him, relieved.

"Thank you kind sir," he said with a flourish.

Iruka smiled and shrugged. Yoshi's eyes flashed at him. "Ah, you're the unfortunate ninja who was mutilated. Sorry about that. I also heard you were a teacher. Are you going to be teaching here?"

Iruka shook his head in self-pity. He pointed to his open mouth, the movement clear; how could he teach if he couldn't speak?

Yoshi frowned at him. "That's true." He adjusted the tower of books and shifted his balance. "I once knew a clan who communicated solely with their secret language of finger movements. It was rather useful when they were on surveillance missions. A perfectly silent way of talking seems perfect for ninja if you ask me."

Yoshi carefully walked away, balancing the tower of books. "There might even be a book or two on the finger language in the pitiful excuse for a library that we have."

Iruka stood dumbfounded. Then he rocked his head back and made the motion to laugh. Nothing came out but tears. He almost ran to the library.

Yoshi glanced back briefly. "A man needs to feel useful doesn't he Yoshi. Yup. Yup."

* * *

Tenchi had looked concerned when Nagi told of the incident in the tea shop. He had asked one question only.

"This is the old man, with the foot long white beard? The one who walks as if he's gliding?"

Nagi nodded and Tenchi frowned. Naruto and Senjii were curious about his reaction, but he would only tell them to avoid going to the tea shop until he had a chance to look into it further.

So that was the reason Naruto and Senjii had found themselves in the tea shop the very next day with Nagi and Calamity. Sakura was tied up with Tsunade and Hiroka was babysitting Gabriella for Guerrera. N'uihc was very pleased to see more customers, one being Naruto the village leader, and welcomed them in. The trio sat down and stared at the man, not seeing the humor in anything as yet. It took a few minutes before Senjii did notice something finally.

"There isn't a scrap of wasted movement!" he remarked in wonder.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

Senjii spoke in hushed tones. "Watch him walk, pick things up, move around. He's using exactly the energy needed for each activity. Nothing more. It's something Master Tenchi told me about once. It's something even he cannot achieve he said."

Naruto looked up at the old man, a new respect for the elder shop owner blooming.

"So he's a martial artist. Like I said." Nagi remarked, still watching N'uihc. The man did indeed move very gracefully. He was puzzled though. There was a sense of a coiled snake in every movement, but he felt nothing but peace radiating from the old man. The others felt it too.

When the man approached with their meal, Calamity spoke up. None of them noticed the man in the cloak who slipped into the tea shop.

"N'uihc, would you tell us about yourself?"

"There is not much to tell young one. Poor humble N'uihc comes from a poor humble village. A village so poor that many cannot raise children, so those that are born are thrown into the sea and we say they are returning to where they come from. We had no land good enough to farm, no minerals worth mining. Nothing of worth except the pride of its people."

"That's horrible!" Naruto exclaimed.

N'uihc seemed to lap up the attention. "Yes, it is indeed horrible my Lord Tenshikage. So any money humble N'uihc made was sent back to the village, so that the babies would not have to be sent back home."

"You can't possibly make enough from this tea shop to support a village!" Senjii exclaimed.

N'uihc shook his head. "Alas, the village is no more. Perhaps one day it will revive and be reborn somewhere else, but my home village of Sinanju was destroyed by a raiding warlord while I was away doing the duties of the Master of Sinanju. Now poor humble N'uihc is a tea shop owner looking for nothing more than a peaceful life."

The man who had slipped in the tea shop minutes ago froze. He found himself glued to his seat. Tenchi should have known that saying NOT to go would have prodded the boys to find themselves in here before he could investigate. He started to cold sweat in his cloak.

He had been about to accost the old man to see how he would defend himself. That would allow Tenchi to identify the style and thus decide on the tea shop owner. But now, Tenchi thanked every god he had ever heard of that he hadn't been fool enough to try anything as yet.

If N'uihc was indeed who he claimed to be, the Master of Sinanju, then Tenchi was by the grace of some deity somewhere allowed to live another day.

As if hearing his name in Tenchi's thoughts he turned to face him and smiled warmly. "It is rather warm in here for such a cloak Master Tenchi. Perhaps you have a fever? I will bring you some tea."

Naruto, Nagi, Senjii and Calamity all turned to see Tenchi under a large brown cloak, face frozen in place. While N'uihc disappeared again, Tenchi managed to rip himself from his chair and walk over to their table.

"What are you doing here?" Tenchi snapped at them. "I told you to stay away!"

Naruto took the lead, "We were curious. He seems very nice. I remember meeting him once in the valley and thinking that he was a kind hearted man."

Tenchi barked a laugh. "Kind hearted? That is the Master of Sinanju. Haven't any of you ever heard of it?"

From one to the other, they all looked at each other before chiming in with a unanimous "Nope."

Tenchi sat down hard, almost talking to himself. "You're sitting in a tea shop, talking to the most feared assassin in the world. I thought he was a legend."

The boys and Calamity sat in shock, processing.

As N'uihc approached the table, Naruto spoke first.

"Hey N'uihc, are you an assassin?"

There was dead silence. Tenchi hit his own face with his palm; incredulous at the stupidity of Naruto and hoping he could defend them all long enough to get away.

N'uihc laughed. "Your spirit is full of fire and bravery. It is an honor to live in your village. Yes that was the occupation of humble N'uihc before the massacre of my village."

Naruto smiled at him and pointed at Nagi and Calamity. "My friends cannot find a sensei to help them. Nagi does Capoeira, and Calamity is an archer. Is there anything you can do to help?"

N'uihc raised his hands, "Oh poor frail N'uihc wouldn't presume to do such a thing. However," He looked at Naruto's earnest face. "If the Master of this village will trade a favor one day, then this weak tea shop owner will take them under his wing and teach them to fly."

Tenchi opened his mouth to object, a favor to the Master of Sinanju was a blood debt. Naruto didn't know what the man would ask for. Naruto beat him to it.

"Any favor that will not harm someone in my village or that I care about is yours." Naruto beamed at N'uihc.

The old man smiled back earnestly. "It has been many years, but I feel the fire running through my veins once again. I will apprentice these two. Your trust in me is overwhelming Lord Tenshikage."

"It's just Naruto," he replied sheepishly. "Call me Naruto."

N'uihc bowed to Naruto. "You honor me Lord Naruto. Now sit, sit, finish your tea." He looked at Calamity and Nagi and his smile took on an eagerness.

"Tomorrow morning, be here as the sun rises."

Nagi groaned, dawn? How does anyone get up that early he though. No one saw anything but suddenly Nagi was clutching the back of his head.

"Ow!" he exclaimed.

"Why did you groan young one? Are you brimming with anticipation? You should be." N'uihc allowed himself a contented smile and returned to his kitchen.

Tenchi turned to Naruto who looked very pleased with himself. "Do you know what you've done? You've just gotten the world's best assassin to take on two apprentices. And now you owe him a favor!"

Tenchi stood to go, "I don't know whether to be happy or afraid. Do you know what happened to the army that destroyed his village? No one does, they vanished without a trace a week later." He left the tea shop very confused, leaving a group of warriors excitedly speculating on what Nagi and Calamity would learn.

* * *

_Middle of Nowhere, Wind Country _

The cave hummed with power. The silhouettes sat in silence, focusing the chakra needed to be there. There was no light in the cave, yet all were powerful enough ninja to be able to see without problems, even though they were only projecting to the cave.

"Konoha is becoming a bigger and bigger problem," one voice said. This silhouette was tall and broad shouldered. He seemed to have a giant sword of some kind slung across his back.

"Yes, but not an insurmountable one. Say the word and I will gladly show 'Emperor' Danzo my art," another shadow hissed. This one had what seemed like a high ponytail above its head.

"Not yet," a commanding voice exclaimed. The eyes on this one were bright even in the shadows, showing many concentric circles. "Danzo will be taken care of in due time. We are still preparing the Jutsu. It will be another few months before we can process the first Jinchuuriki, even with the sped up timeline."

"Hmph!" The shadow with red eyes exclaimed. "I saw no reason to adjust our timeline."

"My reasons are my own," the shadow with circles in his eyes, clearly the leader, replied. "What of the nine tails?"

A smaller shadow, that looked like a hump with eyes spoke up. "My spies report that the nine tails is in the Far West. Halfway around the world. We still do not have an exact location, but I have formulated a plan to draw him out."

"Good, anything else?"

"Yes, on the matter of Danzo," the hump continued, "I have heard that he has joined forces with Orochimaru."

There was a swear coming from the large shadow with the sword. "You should have taken care of that problem before."

"He wasn't that much of a problem before," the hump replied. "But I'll take care of Orochimaru when the time is right."

"The time is now," the leader said quietly. "Diedara. You will eliminate Orochimaru. He knows enough of our plans to hinder us. We've let him live long enough."

"Heh Heh, finally! My art will rend him to bloody mist and bone! "

"More likely than not we'll be filling your space within a month," the hump snorted back.

"That is all. You each know what you need to do," the leader said. "Diedara, you have six months to complete the task. Do not underestimate Orochimaru, he was once one of us."

The shadows disappeared one by one.

* * *

Far away in a city covered in almost eternal rain, a man with concentric circles in his eyes stared up at the sky and whispered to himself.

"Things are going to change. This age is ending. Pain will bring in the new age."

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_

_Whew! Been a while between updates, my bad. Work gets in the way…sigh. That's not gonna change so expect maybe a month and a bit to the next one. Especially as I try to go for longer chapters now (10,000 words+). Just rest assured that this story will not end till the end._

_But once again, mucho thanko to my supremely amazing Beta! Evil Joshua has once again kept me on the straight and narrow path of awesome._

_A few points:  
1. Nope, not going to use this part of the story as an opportunity to time-skip sorry. On we go!  
2. I still get PM's asking about ships… no, Naruto is not going to have a love interest anytime soon.  
3. Soon a new arc will start and a few characters submitted to me will rear their ugly-or-pretty heads _

_Till Next time, stay frosty_

_-Excelsior!_


	24. Chapter 24 : Growth

**Chapter 24  
Growth**

_**Wave Country**_

As he crested the hill, Ji-Hoon cursed the sunlight beating down on his body. The only reason he was able to move in the daylight at all was that he was a half breed. Somewhere along the way his mother had taken a human man and mated with him - devoured him afterward of course – and given birth to Ji-Hoon and four siblings. What had followed was a very short childhood as demons grow faster than human. Within a matter of five years Ji-Hoon had matured and destroyed his siblings for that was the nature of their world.

The Land of Demons looked down upon half breeds, but still encouraged their creation. For that ability to go into the sun allowed them access to the broader world at large. And Demon's needed humans for various reasons. Sometimes food, sometimes slave labor.

Ji-Hoon, however, cursed the sun still. He could walk in it, but it still burned and blistered his skin, albeit more slowly than it would a full demon. Thus he moved wrapped in cloth like a traveler from Wind Country. He stood atop the hill and looked down at the entrance to Wave Country. The land here felt...good. He smiled beneath the cloth draped over the lower half of his face. There was so much death here. He breathed it in, almost feeling the souls of the deceased feeding his power. There it was, the trace of the Kyuubi. Ever so slight.

He vanished in a whisp of black smoke and reappeared on the far side of the destroyed bridge. There were a few people around, but none saw him. One of Ji-Hoon's gifts from his accursed mother was the ability to be masked from the eyes of humans. He walked quietly through the people, glancing at them, but not really registering anyone in particular.

_It's stronger on the other side of the village. _He told himself.

Gliding along, he passed many buildings being repaired, which was not an uncommon sight after a battle as big as this one looked to be. But what was uncommon were the smiles on the faces of people. He slowed to hear snippets of conversations.

"...Naruto..."

"Did you see when he..."

"Hahah...that giant Toad!"

"Millions and millions of him! Naruto was everywhere!"

Ji-Hoon frowned. He knew Naruto was the name of the vessel of Kyuubi. But if he had generated that many clones of himself, then why wasn't the fingerprint of the Kyuubi greater? There was the barest trace. He frowned and kept walking. Suddenly, he heard a whistling behind him and ducked just as a blade sliced the air where his head had been a second ago.

He turned and saw a diminutive human with a shiny bald head sneering. Two blades extended out from his arms. Ji-Hoon could sense the chakra that was infusing them, allowing them to cut anything. There were very few blades in the world that could cut a demon, but Ji-Hoon was half human. If he got cut, he wouldn't die, but the sun was still blazing down at him overhead. It would hurt very very badly.

"I don't know who you are, and I can't see you. But I can feel your presence." Masahiro said, looking in Ji-Hoon's general direction. "I suggest you leave this village now, or me and my friends will just have to hurt you." He extended his right arm forward, pointing almost directly at the half-demon's face. "You have a foul feel about you."

Ji-Hoon would still have killed the short man for his impudence if he did not feel the arrival of two other people.

A giant thin man with a meat cleaver as big as he was landed next to them, along with an ordinary man who looked extremely bored to be there.

"I say we let him pass on through. It's not worth the hassle." Mizurai said, yawning.

"If you attack Mizurai here will be killed, but you will lose the right side of your torso and Masahiro will take your head in twenty five seconds." The tall one said, cocking his head to the side. The lazy one opened his eyes wide, _'Hey now, what the hell?'_

Ji-Hoon did not have time to play with these fools. He vanished in a puff of black smoke, reappearing at the end of the village. He could feel where Naruto had stood, and the scent of the Kyuubi was strongest here. It was old though, weeks old. He was gone. Ji-Hoon cursed loudly. There was no scent leaving the village, which meant he could not track him any further. He had already tracked him halfway around the world, he would not be deterred now. With a final curse to the blazing sun, Ji-Hoon recalled himself back to his home realm.

Takada, Mizurai and Masahiro stood in a loose circle around the puff of smoke.

"Is he gone?" Mizurai asked.

"Yes, thank the stars." Masahiro nodded.

Takada wiped the sweat off his brow. "One hundred percent probability we would have all died."

"I thought you said we'd have gotten him? With just one acceptable loss?" Masahiro responded.

'_You're hurting my feelings here guys!' _Mizurai raged in the background.

"I lied. We couldn't see him, could barely detect him. We'd all have been killed in under a minute." Takada said in a very flat voice.

Masahiro sighed. "Just when I was getting accustomed to the quiet days."

* * *

_**Tengoku**_

Naruto inhaled, feeling the air fill his lungs. He blew it out slowly, focusing on the air as it passed through his throat and nose. He repeated the process five more times, then called the natural energy to him. He felt it like a warm wind, buffeting his body, filling him up, except there was no limit. There was just more, and more. He felt like he could pull in the world. He stopped once it was in balance with his own chakra though, heeding the advice of Ma and Pa Toad. To go further would be a risk. No one could handle too much natural energy, not even sages.

"The entire world is energy Naruto, imagine absorbing the world. It's preposterous." Pa had explained.

Naruto, now filled with energy, alone in the field, did something he had not told anyone he was doing. He visited the Kyuubi. In the recesses of his mind, the Kyuubi still snarled at him from behind the cage. The seal firmly in place locking him in. Naruto strode over to the cage and shouted for it's tenant.

"Hey fox! Come out! We need to talk!"

"What do you want baka?" the fox growled at him. The giant form behind the bars glared at him, menace rolling off him in waves.

"You're pure energy right? How did you become self aware? I mean how did you know you existed and think and all that?"

The fox laughed at him. "Even if I explained it you wouldn't understand. But I will tell you. I was once part of a greater demon, the Juubi. The Juubi was all powerful, a child of Gaia herself. One of the three great monsters or Titans of your early history. The first human ninja, a very powerful warrior , the Rikudo Sennin did battle with Juubi. It was an epic battle that lasted a year exactly. On the three hundred and sixty fifth day Rikudo threw down the Juubi and destroyed him. But one cannot destroy a Titan. Juubi split itself into the nine tailed beasts. I myself retain most of the memories and power of Juubi."

Naruto, who was now sitting down listening to the story raised his hand. "But that doesn't add up. If Juubi had ten tails, and he split up, and you have nine tails, doesn't that just leave the one tail left?"

"That's not how it works!" Kyubi barked at Naruto. "Thus the tailed beasts were unleashed upon the world. Some are incredibly stupid, some powerful. None as powerful as I am for I am the first."

Naruto looked thoughtful. "You said Juubi was one of three titans? Where are the other two?"

Kyuubi scoffed. "The old ones care not for the affairs of us demons or humans. Cronus fathered Magnus, the current Lord of Yomi. A foul tempered youth who's time will come. Lucius wanders the world we are told, but he takes many forms. No one or nothing has seen him in centuries."

"And this Gaia you keep speaking of, that's?"

"Nature itself baka. The world, the universe. The chakra you are absorbing even now as you sit there quietly. That is Gaia. If you think demon's are bad, wait till you ask something of Gaia. She is cold, care's nothing for any of her children or children's children. She is eternal and we are all but a blink of an eye to her."

Naruto nodded and stood up, dusting himself off, even though he didn't have to. "That's all very interesting. If the Land of Yomi ever becomes a threat at least I know some of the people involved. Magnus, you Kyuubi, Gaia, the Titans. OK."

"Baka you understand nothing! If Magnus finds us here while you are playing nice and building houses we are finished! I must be let free to battle him! Only I can defeat him, you remember that Naruto!"

Naruto disappeared from his mindscape, leaving the Kyuubi to snarl to himself.

"You remember Naruto. Only I. You remember. I must be the one."

"I must be."

"I must."

* * *

"Dark Blade: Twin Strike!" Senjii cried as he charged the training dummy, spinning around and striking with both kodachi at the same moment from two different angles. Once he was past, he straightened, reverently sheathed the blades, and turned to see the damage.

The training dummy was unmarked.

Senjii smirked and confidently walked back around to the front of the wooden post. Then be blew on it.

It blew apart in a shower of splinters. Not an explosion, but rather that the wood had been cut and shattered while still remaining in the exact same position. It was one of his more... potent standard attack styles. It was good to see that his new swords handled his style even better than his original swords had. Of course the Twin Strike was one of his more simplistic moves. It used the concept of resonant impacts, exponentially increasing the energy and thus the damage of the attack. Against wood, it turned a solid log into splinters shaped like a log. Against a human, it caused internal bleeding and broken bones.

He turned to the other training dummies he'd set up earlier and proceeded to go through his entire repertoire of special attacks and even standard kata. His new weapons lived up to every expectation and even surpassed them several times over. Even his most powerful, thus far unstoppable attack was near perfect and even then the imperfection could be lain at his lack of skill using two unfamiliar weapons rather than the swords themselves. He tried it again, just to be sure.

"Dark Blade: Jikan Tsuki!"

Using his quick step, Senjii vanished towards the practice dummy, moving faster than a normal human could follow. Both swords were unsheathed in a single moment, and Senjii thrust so quickly to the heart of the dummy that each hit blended together, sounding like one impact. The two swords struck six times each, moving in a clock wise motion, a full rotation of the clock. He flew past the dummy, swords held at his sides. The result was surgical in its nature. A circular piece of the dummy, right where the heart would be, popped out of the chest, falling to the ground.

Senjii nodded at the expected results. Then he turned his attention to his weapons. With his original swords, there would be some signs of wear, sometimes scuff marks, showing where they were being stressed. With these enchanted/cursed kodachi however, there were no stress marks, no signs of wear, they weren't even scratched!

At that moment, Senjii looked over to where his friend Naruto was training. Apparently he'd surpassed the meditation level of his training and was now sparring topless with the old toad called "Pa". The catch was, they were sparring with a level of strength and endurance that even a Sannin would be hard-pressed to match. Also, he could see that Naruto was modifying the moves Pa Toad was showing him, matching them to his own unpredictable style that made it that much more devastating.

Senjii looked to his unmarked blades and then back to his friend training. He glanced back and forth a few more times before a wicked grin crossed his expression.

"Time to start pushing myself. I need to develop more original moves. Make myself as unpredictable and surprising as Naruto is becoming," he said to the weapons in his hands. "Time to start training for real!"

* * *

Nagi cursed, but only in his head. Time had shown that his new sensei had hearing that could pick up the softest whisper at incredible distances, and Nagi had the bruises behind his head to prove it. So for the hundredth time today he stood on top of the thin wooden post, and worked on his balance.

N'huic watched him closely and disdainfully.

"You have the balance of an obese woman," he scoffed. "Oh but if only Lord Tenshikage had thought to give me someone more worthy to train. I could have molded him a mighty warrior."

N'huic came over and slapped the pole, watching Nagi waver on it to maintain his balance.

"Bah, instead he gave me this. Bird droppings is what you are. But I, Master of the Sun Source, will make something of you. I will show the Lord that humble N'huic can change Bird droppings into hard metal."

Nagi wavered again. "Sensei," He had learned that he could not call him N'huic anymore, he had two more bruises to prove THAT particular point. "Sensei, when are you going to start teaching me this Sinanju stuff?"

N'huic looked startled. Then cackled with laughter. "You? I will not be teaching you the arts of my village! Oh no, one must be born of my village to learn the ultimate arts. No, for you and the woman, you will learn something much simpler." He motioned for Nagi to get down from the post.

Calamity was now finishing the laps of Tengoku N'huic had her do every morning. While he harped on about Nagi's balance, he chided Calamity for her lack of stamina and endurance. Although he did make sure to mention every day it was because she was born a woman.

"Sit, both of you. I will explain where we will go from here."

As the two students sat down, N'huic too took a lotus position in front of them. They were in a small field sitting next to the lake. The water was serene as N'huic fixed them with a cold stare.

"Lord Tenshikage has asked me to train you. This I will do."

He pointed to Nagi. "I have seen your skills and they are deplorable. However I am familiar with the techniques you use. It is of course a shadow of my own Martial Arts, having been stolen a millennia ago. However the people who used it were honorable and paid on time. I will instruct you on furthering your deplorable 'skills'."

Nagi tried very hard to hide what he was thinking. He had never met anyone other than the one man who had showed him how to fight, who used the Capoeira. And N'huic knew a whole race of people that did?

He looked over at Calamity. "You have the unfortunate burden of being born a woman. This is not your fault. I can see you are willing to work hard to overcome this." Calamity bit her tongue, knowing better than to talk back. She had been subjected to this for weeks now and she just accepted that the old man had his views, and seemed to be willing to work with her nonetheless.

"This is good," he continued. "It is also good that you have chosen a weapon that will allow you to strike from far. Archery is in itself an art form that can be taken to extreme heights. I will teach you to know where your target is. To know where your target is going to be. To hit your target from miles away, never wavering, never missing. This will be difficult because you are a woman, but despair not, for I am magnificent and can turn even moldy bread into a meal fit for a king."

Calamity flushed, unable to hide her anger much longer. N'huic saw this and smiled.

"I see you are bursting with excitement, ready to begin! That is also good! So let us begin."

* * *

**Konoha**

_**Hidden bunker, outskirts of Training Ground 7**_

Shikamaru sat perfectly still in the darkness, sweat beading on his forehead. The abandoned underground bunker that he was currently in had fallen into disrepair decades ago. The far side of the room was collapsed under rubble. In fact the only way in and out was to move a rather large rock, and push it back in place. Fortunately the air vents were still open. He had been here for three weeks already, with most of the time spent either reading or practicing.

It had not been as simple as planned, getting the clan training books to Shino and Kiba. Danzo had instituted a very strict curfew, and his ROOT were on high alert all over Konoha fearing another strike from Naruto. Shikamaru doubted that was the real reason, but he could do nothing about Danzo right now. Not yet. Regardless, they had managed to get the books to both Shino and Kiba, and they had all went their separate ways to train. Shino had gone to the mountains, saying something about a massive colony. Kiba had gone into the wilderness with Akamaru. They all vowed to return in one year, masters of their clan's secrets, and ready to take down Danzo.

Shikamaru sighed, the pounding behind his eyes growing in intensity. He'd read the clan book cover to cover. Not one of the techniques described in the book was easy. Not that he expected they would be. The first thing he had to come to understand was that he had to unlearn some of what he was accustomed to. Normally a Nara at Chunnin level could manipulate his shadow, and there were any number of ways he could do that. But Shikamaru needed to go beyond Chunnin, possibly even surpass Jounin. And the book was very specific about how that could be done. Not many had done it, only two of his ancestors had been able to accomplish it.

Shikamaru needed to become a shadow himself. The book explained that to the normal person, a shadow was just something created by light and an object blocking or absorbing that light. But to a skilled ninja who understood the 'world underneath the world' (or saw 'underneath the underneath'), a shadow was actually a true darkness. An entity all by itself. The Nara clan could force the entity to move a little, by bending it to their will slightly. But to truly control the shadow, one had to bond with it, in essence becoming a shadow himself.

_Of course, that's all I need to do, _Shikamaru had thought._ Become a shadow. Easy right?_

Three weeks later he felt not much closer to achieving anything at all. He's gained an appreciation for the dark, it certainly played to his penchant for solitude. The book didn't really go into much detail about HOW he was supposed to become a shadow. So he'd been meditating on it, putting his intellect to the task, barely moving save when necessary.

"Freaking hopeless," he whispered, keeping his eyes closed. He felt it then. Minute. The faintest of stirrings. His eyes shot open. A black shape was barely perceptible, slightly darker than the dim room. Afraid that if he blinked it would disappear, Shikamaru stared at it, turning his head slightly. The shadow figure mirrored his movement. With a start, he realized that this was his mirror image, his very own shadow, as a solid form in front of him. He looked at it quizzically, wondering if it was real or if he had just cracked alone in this bunker. The tension was palpable as the silence dragged on.

His shadow mimicked his slight movements perfectly, but then suddenly stood up and stepped back. Shikamaru let his mouth drop open, looking in disbelief as his shadow waved him to move, and pointed into the pitch black in a corner of the bunker. After a few waves, the shadow seemed to stretch, and – Shikamaru thought he was going crazy at this point – even looked like it was yawning. His shadow then faded away.

Shikamaru blinked and rubbed his eyes. Nothing there. Had he imagined it?

He shook his head and stood up, dusting off his pants. With a sigh he walked over to where his shadow had waved him to. His eyes couldn't even adjust to the darkness in this part of the bunker. No light penetrated this corner. He felt around, then sat. It was different here, slightly colder. He looked around, straining his eyes, but could see nothing. He gave up and closed them, sitting as still as he could, starting his meditation up again.

* * *

_**In the forest, far to the south of Konoha.**_

The cougar approached the river cautiously. He sniffed the air abruptly. There was that scent again. The cougar didn't recognize the scent, but it did not smell like a predator would. Not that there were many predators a cougar feared save but one; humans. This did not smell human, it was like that pack it had seen a few nights ago crossing the valley. Whatever it was, it wasn't human so it wasn't a threat.

He dipped his head to drink from the river. As he lapped his first gulp, his instincts kicked into gear and the fine coarse hairs on his back bristled. He tensed and leapt to the side, avoiding the animal that landed exactly where he had been. This was a strange animal, it smelled almost like a wolf, but it's face looked like a human. It was on all fours, and it's claws were long, digging into the earth where it – he – landed.

The cougar let out a snarl and lunged, it's lithe body uncoiling like a spring, it's fangs bared, claws reaching for the attacker. The wolf-man sprang backwards to avoid his claws, but the cougar pursued him, not giving him time to recover. It was a frenzy of slashing and biting, most of which missed. The cougar felt the scratches in his side from his attacker, but he felt he would win. This was no animal. This was a man. A man who was fighting as an animal.

With a mighty swipe, he knocked the man into the dust. He leapt for his exposed throat, but a small odd wolf leapt at him out of nowhere and hit him in the side where the man had scratched him. The cougar growled in pain and annoyance. He snapped at the small wolf, but it managed to avoid his teeth. The man had gotten up as well and they advanced on him.

The cougar saw no reason to fight two creatures, so tensed, then fled into the forest.

Kiba fell to his knees, panting. Akamaru came up and put his nose against him. With a grunt, Kiba stood up ignoring the scratch across his face where the cougar had slashed him. He walked straight into the river, washing the dust and blood away with Akamaru watching him from the shore.

"We're not ready yet are we boy?" Kiba said to his friend.

He came back on shore and fetched his traveling bag. He reached in and pulled out the book from his Clan. Unlike Shikamaru and he was sure Shino, Kiba's was not an instructional manual, but a diary. It was very very old, held together by bound leather. Inside was a piece of paper with a note from his mother. He looked at it again, sitting on the grass.

"Kiba, to reach where you need to, there are no techniques or moves we can teach you. If we did you would be as we are, helpless. You must surpass us. This diary belonged to your great grandfather. His path is one no one has ever tried to walk again, but it may be the only way. Good luck my pup."

He stared at the note for a second before stashing it back in the book. He flipped to the last entry in the diary. So far it had been a chronicle of his great grandfather's journey into the wilderness. He read again the line that had given him much to think about.

"_Sunday : How can I hope to retain my civilized mindset and be an effective animal fighter? I've been out in the wilderness for weeks now, and I've hit a wall. If you are reading this, you would have as well. How do I progress? How do I get stronger? The animals are getting accustomed to my scent, but they know. Know I am not one of them. Know I am a man. Know I am weaker than them. I attacked a grizzly earlier today. My ribs are broken as well as my nose, but I managed to get away. Men are weak creatures. When did we lose our animal instinct? I will get mine back. Not through weapons or trickery will I conquer the beasts of this wild, but through strength. Not until I've ripped the throat out of that same grizzly will I have passed this wall. Maybe that's it. Maybe I need to stop even the pretense of being a man. Shed everything..."_

That was the entry that had led Kiba to attack the Mountain Lion. He needed to test himself. The diary was not an instructional guide, as much as it showed HOW his great grandfather had become the greatest dog-clan ninja ever. Kiba had initially wondered why no one else in his clan followed in his footsteps, but after the first few weeks, he didn't have to wonder any more. He had to abandon all contact with people, leave everything behind. Kiba saw the logic in it.

Kiba had for most of his life been lazy. He admitted that. He'd enjoyed being young, and having no responsibilities. That had all ended when Danzo took over. In the Battle of the Valley against Iwa Kiba had found himself lacking. The brutality of death woke him up. Now here he was, sharing in a solemn pact with his friends to reunite in one year's time. He had to get stronger, but not just stronger. He had to be the strongest.

His great grandfather had stopped writing in the diary after that. He'd disappeared for a long time. When he reemerged from the wilderness, he was more beast than man. Feared by enemies far and wide, he founded their clan in Konoha. Kiba laid down the book and put it in his pack. He stared at the river. He'd come to this spot on purpose. On the other side was the same wilderness his great grandfather had gone into. A jungle older than any Kiba had ever seen. It FELT old.

Kiba felt the sting of the Cougar's scratch over his face. His eyes got hard and he rose. He put the book in the pack, and zipped it up. Looking around a bit, he found a small hollow in a rock, and put the bag in there. He covered it with as many rocks as he could find. He looked across the river to the wilderness.

With a nod towards Akamaru, he leapt from rock to rock, across into the wild. A beat after, the faithful dog companion followed along.

* * *

_**Inside Konoha Proper**_

Chouji looked across the table at his father. He had been receiving instruction for weeks now. Most of it was careful explanation of anatomy, and the effects their family jutsu would have on each part. Most of it was visualization. He had to imagine each body part growing. But it wasn't as simple as that. There had to be complete awareness of each muscle fiber, each vein, each bone. It was many times more intricate than people were led to believe. Chouji's head was already starting to ache.

"That's enough for today," his father said finally. He looked down at his son proudly. Chouji had been a different person since the brief war with Iwa. And when Asuma and Anko escaped from Danzo, he suspected that his son – who had disappeared that night - was involved in the rescue. In truth Chouji had not returned until much later the day after, exhausted. Chōza had smiled as his son slept off his night time activities.

Now Chōza had never seen his son so determined. He had taken to the Clan's teaching with a fervor he'd not seen in his son before. In truth he had been worried about Chouji taking over as Clan Leader someday, he had always seemed so lazy. But this was a different boy in front of him. No...not a boy, a man.

"Not yet dad." Chouji shook his head. "I didn't understand that part about the tensile strength matching the size of the tendons."

* * *

_**Tengoku**_

"Run faster!" N'uihc ordered Calamity as she completed her first lap around the floating island that was Tengoku. She was up to three laps in the morning, four laps after lunch and six laps before dinner, which thankfully was always a free meal at N'uihc's restaurant. At least Calamity and Nagi saw it as free. Tenchi always made sure to pay the bill on time each evening after Calamity and Nagi passed out in their beds. "If you have time to day dream, you have time for extra laps!"

Calamity groaned and kept running.

* * *

_**Konoha Hyuuga Compound**_

Hinata's eyes snapped open, Byakugan active. Her Divination was perfect. Only Neji had ever perfected the same skill to the same degree at such a young age. He had beaten her by a number of months, but he was a prodigy after all. Hinata had something her cousin did not though, and that was something to fight and to be better for. Not a petty concept such as revenge or fighting ones own fate, but some _one_ worth fighting for.

Suddenly shuriken, kunai, and nearly a hundred other weapons flew through the air at the kneeling Hyuuga Heiress. Hinata began to spin, forming her unique signature jutsu, the Hakke Rokujuu Yonsho, which was both a flawless defense with combined with a precision attack at the same time. Her hands spun out and out, faster and faster. The chakra emanated from her palms and body, forming a perfect sphere around her. She deflected every projectile that Ten Ten fired at her. Hinata did not stop there though, she tried to pick up her speed even further. Spinning faster and faster. She used her chakra to not only form a defense, but to push her in the spin.

Ten Ten kept throwing weapons at her, all the while her eyes wide at what she was seeing. Hinata's defense was still perfect, but it now emitted a loud hum, and it looked as if she was not moving but just standing there in a defense stance. She knew it was an illusion caused by the sheer speed of Hinata's movement, but it was rather impressive nonetheless.

The weapons came in small bursts at first, and were blocked just as easily as the first salvo. And then they kept coming without end. The pile of weapons at the ten foot range began to pile higher and higher, but not a single one of them made it inside that range. There was the sound of a scroll unrolling, and then the surge of chakra releasing storage scrolls. She ignored it. She was close to something, so close, she could feel it.

One of the kunai exploded the moment before it hit the invisible barrier, blowing away the weapons around it and scorching the ceiling and floor. Except for the floor and ceiling that were within that ten foot radius. There, the floor and ceiling were clean. Not even dust, let alone any of the explosion, had made it past the unseen barrier in place there.

When she had initially started working on this jutsu, she would get dizzy and expend far too much chakra. Since then, her chakra control had increased to such a degree that she could maintain her Yonsho for up to several minutes in one go if needed. Her extra training with her father and the rest of the clan had been of enormous help in that regards. And yet... and yet she felt that there was something more, something she sensed was just out of her reach. Not another technique, but an evolution of all her techniques, something that would elevate her beyond her current level and allow her to help Naruto when he returned. It was eluding her, and that vexed her greatly. She slowed down gradually, feeling the strain on her body as it screeched and pulled to a halt. Hinata slumped to one knee in exhaustion.

"OK, I give up," Tenten stepped out of the shadows with a sigh, "How are you able to spin that fast? That was pretty awesome the way you blocked the blast Hinata! Can you keep that up for very long?"

"Hm?" Hinata opened her eyes and raised her head to glance at her 'sparring partner' of recent days. She finally looked around, without moving her head a millimeter, and noticed the scorch marks on the floor. "Oh. I hadn't even noticed. I've been trying to increase my Divination range, but this seems to be my limit. I can see things at the maximum range of the Byakugan, and like Neji-nii-san, I'm beginning to see a bit beyond it, but only shadows and vague chakra signatures. My Divination range, however, the range at which I can affect things with my Jyuuken..." Hinata looked around disappointed, her Byakugan deactivated now.

"Are you kidding me?" Tenten exclaimed. "You just blocked everything I threw at you! And you were spinning so fast that it looked like you were standing still! Not even Neji can do that! Heck, even Lee can't dodge everything I throw at him!"

Hinata's eyes went wide. That was it! That's what she was missing! It was so obvious, she felt like Jyuuken-striking herself into oblivion! The problem with all of her techniques, all of her new jutsu was the speed at which she needed to move to make them most effective, her body had to build up to it and then slow down from it. She could push herself that fast, it was just her body was not conditioned to handle it. Her physical form was getting stronger, but her training so far was not equipping her to handle the speed she demanded of it. Speed, she recalled, she had seen only a few times before.

Rock Lee fighting Gaara in the Chuunin Exams. And supposedly his teacher, Gai was much faster, and Kakashi even faster when using his Sharingan. And then the traitor Sasuke had proven that it wasn't impossible to have above-jounin level speed at their age level. That's what she needed to complete her techniques, she knew.

"Excuse me Tenten, I must speak with my father at once," Hinata immediately got to feet and was out the door before Tenten even realized she'd answered.

"Uh, all right, bye?" Tenten called after her teammate's cousin. Well, former teammate, she thought with no small amount of disgust. Promotions should not be handed out like their prizes at a popularity contest. No matter how much they were genuinely deserved, if the reason behind it was flawed, it was as good as useless.

* * *

_**Danzo's Temporary Office**_

"For your valor in combat and your dedication to your teammates and display of power and ability in the field, Neji Hyuuga, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Jounin, with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities, enabled therein," the aide recited from the paper in his hands as a pair of ROOT ANBU handed Neji the Jounin vest and rank insignia. Neji put it on and attached the appropriate insignia where it needed to go and bowed low, first to the Emperor, and then to the ROOT that had granted him the status symbols of his new rank.

The ceremony, such as it was, concluded with two other Iwa Chuunin that had also survived the Battle of Wave, attaining the same rank. Thankfully no one but Danzo and the aide knew that Neji had actually been a genin only moments before, so there would be no conflict until later. That there would be conflict, Neji had no doubt. Fate was predictable that way, she loved conflict of all kinds.

The Iwa and ROOT ninja were dismissed, leaving just Neji, the Emperor, and the aide, who immediately handed Neji a sealed scroll. Neji paused to glance at the bandaged Hokage, who merely stared back at him. Neji nodded and unsealed the scroll, but only after checking the room and confirming they were truly alone with his Byakugan, before reading the contents. He was not surprised by what he read.

"When would you like this accomplished, Emperor-sama?" the newly christened Jounin humbly inquired.

"Not for some time now," Danzo answered. "You are just one of many that I am giving this mission to. In the mean time, I expect you to raise your skills to match what this mission will one day ask of you. I do not mean that as a slight against you, Hyuuga-san..."

"My pardon, Emperor-sama, but you have just given me a mission to assassinate the Tenshikage of Tengoku," Neji interrupted in his normal emotionless tone, "Even if he were to trust me after what happened in Wave, I know what he is now capable of, and I know what he was capable of when I faced him in the Chuunin Exam several years ago. I cannot tell the difference between the Tenshikage, and the Tenshikage's clones. He has a level of mastery over the wind element that rivals my mastery of Jyuuken, and he attained that mastery in a short number of years, whereas my own came about slowly throughout my entire lifetime up to this point. He can destroy me at a distance without ever having to face me, while I would have to face a thousand opponents just to be certain that I was truly facing him, provided I survived that long."

"Emperor-sama, there is no offense taken. If I could accomplish this mission at all, I would be greatly honored. I am greatly honored that you would choose me at all. But I am under no illusions that as I am, I stand no chance against Naruto Uzumaki," Neji had to force himself to say his friends name with the same derision he once had during their match at the Chuunin Exam years ago.

Danzo nodded, satisfied. "In the mean time, I'm trading you out with Gai. He's been in Suna, securing our position there long enough. You are to go and take over for him. He may have one week of leave time, showing you how he has done things there and introducing you to his contacts. After that, I expect him and his apprentice back in Konoha before the end of the week."

"Danzo-sama, if I may?" Neji requested, sweating imaginary bullets even as he did so.

"Yes?" Danzo's tone did not show it, but Neji could feel the Killing Intent fill the room. The Emperor was annoyed.

"Perhaps it would be better if I were to... take over, for my former sensei in regards to my former teammates. Hiashi-sama has actually requested that I apprentice Hinata-sama in Jyuuken. If I take her as my replacement and am assigned as Lee and Tenten's Jounin Team Leader..."

Danzo actually smiled. Neji felt like throwing up, but hid his emotions perfectly.

"Yes, that would all but kill the Green Beast of Konoha. Inform your teammate and your cousin. You leave tomorrow. I'll have the orders for Gai written up before you leave. Dismissed."

"Hai!" Neji vanished in a flash of movement.

* * *

_**Tengoku**_

Nagi fell down in a heap, only to immediately get back to his feet. Unfortunately, it still wasn't fast enough for N'uihc as the man verbally and physically berated him with that damn finger flick of his.

"Pathetic, truly pathetic. You are an idiot of the first class, without doubt. Poor N'uihc has much work to do. Again!"

Nagi didn't hesitate and spun around in an attack, a combination of kicking, punching, blocks, leg sweeps and dancing. That's how N'uihc described it. A dance of the most beautiful and lethal vision of energy and agility. He went on to say that Nagi was like a worm trying to move with coordination and grace, and failing pathetically. He was so clumsy and oafish that there was not even any pity to be had, only misery at N'uihc's poor fate of being the one to teach this worm how to dance, and hopefully change it into a butterfly.

Nagi fell at the same point, where he needed to do a flip-kick before moving into a head spin. He kept getting dizzy and losing his balance right when he started to spin about on his hands. He got back to his feet and didn't need to be told to do it again. He still got flicked though, and grimaced at the pain. N'uihc said something insulting, but Nagi was already focusing on what he needed to do next. He reached the same point in the kata and right as he started to spin, he couldn't keep his balance and he started to fall... except something was different this time. He couldn't even say what it was, but he knew what his body was doing and he knew what to do and how to move to keep himself from falling. His balance was all over the place, he couldn't tell up from down, left from right, but his hands were on the ground, and he knew where every part of his body was at that very moment.

He pushed off from the ground with both hands, keeping only his fingertips against the ground to keep himself oriented in his completely disoriented state, and then he twisted his hips in the opposing direction and bent his knees back until his heels were touching his waist and he arched his back. His fingertips told him he was now parallel to the ground, so he pushed off against it fully with the one hand and then slapped his free hand all the way around, spinning himself mid-air while he was mid-fall and almost to the ground. When his hand slapped the ground, he pushed and folded his body inwards before kicking out with first one leg, and then the other, and the repeating the kicks as he continued to flip over and over from one hand to the other, feeling dizzier with each flip, not even fully aware that he was a spinning and kicking tornado against the ground.

Finally, Nagi's body could handle no more and he knew he had to stop this and get his feet against the ground. So rather than switching hands again, he placed both hands on the ground and kicked out with both legs while he twisted his body perpendicular to the ground. His muscles screamed and pounded as he pushed hard against the ground, his legs straight in front of him, feeling like he was pushing against a ceiling and about to fall away into the open air, but he kept his focus and did a quick double somersault flip with a twist at the end, and the next thing he knew he was crouched with his feet flat against the earth and his head was spinning.

"Good," N'uihc was smiling, "You begin to understand. The worm dreams of becoming the butterfly, and thanks to N'uihc, you shall wrap yourself in a cocoon and emerge as a beautiful creature of enviable grace and agility. Again. And this time do not be so wild with your fluttering."

"Um... can-can I get... some water?" Nagi changed his request at the last moment, knowing that N'uihc wouldn't care or allow him to rest if he said he needed a minute to stop being dizzy and get his head on straight. If only he had realized that N'uihc had chosen those particular moves for the kata because they would make him insufferably disoriented every time, he would also have, eventually, figured out that the Master of Sinanju was actually trying to teach him how to handle being in that disoriented state and still be able to fight no matter what. In the end, it didn't make a lick of difference.

"No," N'uihc answered with a broad and happy smile, "You may drink your own sweat, like the pigs do if you must. Again."

Nagi hesitated only long enough for the awaited finger flick and he was back on the ground, getting dizzier and dizzier and more disoriented with each movement. By the end of the day he felt like he'd always been like that and that being still with the ground being down and the sky being up was the unusual state of being.

* * *

"Run faster! Women are good at few things in life, and running away from a fight should be one of them. Women of N'uihc's village were very good runners. They often spent the whole day running for spending the whole night in bed!" N'uihc called after her. She was now up to 10 laps in the morning, 12 after lunch, and 20 before dinner!

Of course any time Calamity dared to speak back or say anything to N'uihc at all, he would berate her that, as a woman, talking was one of the things she was naturally best at, and that if she had breath left to talk, it was breath better used in running even faster. So anytime she had the urge to talk back against her teacher, instead she grit her teeth, bit her tongue, and channeled her anger into making her legs move faster and her lungs keep breathing.

N'uihc pointed out her breathing more than anything else. "You must breathe! Why are you hyperventilating like that? Are you giving birth? Your body has all the air it needs from normal breath. Feel the air in your belly, not in your bosom."

The worst part of it for Calamity was that while she was running flat out, N'uihc was actually keeping pace with her! And he was barely breathing or moving any differently at all. Like he was out for a morning stroll... at Jounin ninja level speeds!

It took a while for Calamity to understand what he meant, but slowly she was starting to feel the difference in her breathing, and how much better running felt when she wasn't blowing hard. It felt almost...easy.

The second N'uihc saw her improvement he clapped his hands. "The wonders of Sinanju will never cease. For I have taught a woman to breathe like a warrior should." He smiled at his own words then snapped at her.

"Finish your laps, then join me by the targets."

* * *

_**Border of Fire and Rock Country**_

Shino stared up at the mountain. The colony within him was buzzing excitedly. He allowed himself to analyze the feeling inside himself. He knew what his clan's book had told him, and what his own colony was telling him now. The Queen was there. Not the queen of each colony, but the Queen of ALL colonies. The mother of all insects. This creature was beyond centuries old, beyond immortal. Her colony extended out across the whole world. And what Shino was asking of her had never been done before in recorded history.

Every year the clan leader would come here and pay tribute, offering a sacrifice that would appease the Queen. Usually a few cows. But Shino was coming instead, not with an offering, but with a request. This had never been done before, none had dared. But it had been speculated that it would be the one way to surpass anyone the clan had ever produced.

Shino's mind understood, but his fear was palpable. Yes his clan book was full of techniques, which he analyzed and surmised he could master, but as with the others in his small colony – Kiba, Shikamaru, Hinata, Neji, Lee, Ten Ten, Chouji –he knew he must become greater to be of use.

He trekked up the mountain path, feeling the billions of eyes on him, hearing the buzzing grow louder and louder, until he was at the mouth of the cave. It was enormous. Shino entered silently, navigating the winding corridors, following the buzzing guidance of his own colony.

"Whyyy have youuuu commmmmee to the All-Hive?" the voice whispered at him. There was a cacophony of buzzing and screeching overlaid on top of the voice. Shino steeled his nerve and spoke clearly.

"I have come to learn to be a guardian of the All-Hive."

The noise was deafening. Billions of insects all in an uproar. From out of the darkness a shape approached Shino. It was large, definitely insect in shape. Somewhat resembling a Mantis.

"Youuuu wish to protect the All-Hive? The existence of my children around the world?" the Queen asked him again.

"Yes. I wish to have the strength to protect the hive. I will serve the Queen. In exchange I request the strength to defend my own hive." Shino continued.

"Youuu are bargaining with me? I who have seen your kind end one age and begin another?" The Queen laughed. The shape morphed in the shadows and suddenly Shino was faced with a very nude, voluptuous woman who approached him from the shadows.

"It has been centuries since one as bold as you has come to me. The last guardian of the All-hive was killed more than five hundred years ago. He was not much older than you." Her voice still buzzed and screeched, echoing in the dim confines of the cave. Shino realized that the light he was seeing with came from millions of tiny worms glowing in the dark.

"Very well," the Queen said suddenly. "I will make you into a Guardian of the All-hive, Shino Aburame. Your colony speaks highly of you. Of your loyallttyyyy. I know of the danger to your hive to the south. A human named Danzo would destroy your pod. Those who have faithfully served me for centuries. I will give you the strength you desire. But for me..." Her voice seemed to almost hiss at him as she circled him, eyeing him up and down.

"I have other needs than a protector. You will serve them once you have taken care of this problem with your home. Do we have an agreement?"

Shino stood quietly for a minute, thinking. This was what he had come for, and the price, well he looked at her in her human form...

"It would be an honor my Queen."

* * *

_**Tengoku Target Range**_

N'uihc had set up a target at the end of the long field, on the other side of the 'chambers' the students of the academy were going through, with permission from Tenchi of course. Calamity arrived to see him put a bag down and motion her over.

He pointed down towards the targets. "How many targets do you see?"

She looked, they were a mere one hundred meters away. "Two Master N'uihc."

He smiled slightly. "You have the eyes of a normal woman. That is expected. Seeing what you expect to see. Look beyond the obvious targets and tell me what you see."

Calamity prided herself on her eyesight, and so she strained hard, looking past the two targets into the forest past the field. After a few seconds, she saw... something, was that a sliver of color?

"I see, something. Something red."

N'uihc nodded. "Your eyes are better than a normal woman, I stand corrected. There are two more targets one hundred meters deeper in the woods. There are many trees and even a bamboo patch in the way. When you can hit those targets you will have passed phase one of your training."

Calamity looked incredulous. "But that's impossible!"

N'uihc reached into the bag and withdrew a small arrow. He didn't even look towards the forest before flicking the arrow. It shot across the field and into the woods impossibly fast.

"Go and see what is impossible for the Master of Sinanju," he declared, obviously waiting for her to do just that and return. Reluctantly Calamity made her way across the field and into the forest, at a run. She knew what she would find though before even getting there. Hidden in a thicket, past countless trees and – yes even a bamboo patch - was a small red target. In the exact center was the arrow N'uihc had thrown. Calamity looked at it incredulously. She couldn't even see the field from here. She plucked the arrow and ran back.

"Are you finished doubting the Master now child?" N'uihc asked with what he thought was magnanimity but really came across as condescending.

"Yes Master," Calamity nodded.

N'uihc reached into his bag and withdrew two rubber balls, tossing them to Calamity.

"When you do not have a bow in your hand, you will have these. You will squeeze them until I say you have done enough. Now I have here your longbow and some arrows. Show me how you will hit these two targets in front of your face."

Calamity obliged, drawing her bow, feeling the tension in the string, and releasing. Her arrow flew true, and hit the dead center of the target. N'uihc nodded. "You have passable skill with the bow. However, you rely on what you can see rather than what you know. There is only one way to break you of this habit."

He dumped the rest of the contents of his bag on the ground. At least two hundred arrows fell out.

"You will fire every single arrow here into that target. You will not damage any arrows. When you are finished you will repeat. Tomorrow you will run twenty additional laps of Tengoku then come here and do it again. I will break you of this habit or I will break you. Either way my promise to Lord Tenshikage will be fulfilled as I will have tried to teach you."

Calamity picked up her first arrow and fired at the second target, perfect center. She reached for the next and saw that N'uihc was gone. She resigned herself to her task and fired again, this one had to be slightly off center, so it wouldn't damage the first arrow.

* * *

Sakura pulled her fist back and let it go, taking a large chunk out of the boulder that was hurtling towards her. Tsunade didn't give her a break through, sending another one flying immediately. Sakura was dripping in sweat, having been doing nothing but this for the past half an hour. She destroyed the next boulder as well, atomizing it.

Tsunade frowned and stopped. "Sakura, you need to mix it up. You can't keep using just your fists. You must learn how to use the Futae no Kiwami from any part of your body. Also the amount of chakra you're putting into each hit is still slightly off."

Sakura made an exasperated noise. "I've been doing this for half an hour! And that's AFTER a full day of doing our medic nin training."

Tsunade sent another, larger boulder flying. They were practicing at the place that Naruto and Senjii had a long time ago cleared the area for the city and put the boulders they wanted to move. It was a veritable small mountain of large rocks.

Sakura cracked that boulder in half with a kick, each half flying away from either side of her. She panted and fell to one knee, breathing hard.

"See? You're expending far too much chakra. Your reserves will take time to grow. The medic nin techniques you are learning will increase your chakra control to precision, and all our other training will grow your reserves far larger than a normal ninja's. But that's no excuse for wastage. What if you end up in a battle that lasts longer than an hour? "

Sakura nodded and stood back up.

"Again."

She barely glanced at Calamity as she ran past on one of the many laps N'uihc had her doing of Tengoku.

* * *

"Run faster, lazy woman!" N'uihc shouted, actually shouted at her as she ran, ducked, dodged, weaved, jumped, and practically flew over the solid cloud terrain, interspersed with solid ground, rocks, trees, bushes, and even Yoshi's ever-changing wall! He kept pace with her, having decided to join her and make her laps even more difficult. After a few more minutes of running he shouted.

"Stop! Fire at the target!"

Calamity had to stop immediately, notch her arrow and fire from wherever she was, to the target back in the field. Wherever she was in Tengoku. She was terrified she'd send a wayward arrow hurtling towards killing someone, but N'uihc shrugged and said simply. "Don't miss."

She had to be constantly aware of where her target was in relation to where she was. It took her a few seconds to get her bearings before she aimed up, and fired. The arrow arced high in the general area of the training field.

"You missed." N'uihc said. "Deplorable. Back to running, maybe next time you can try to get closer than five feet from the target."

Calamity did not bother to ask how he knew that, she just put the bow back on her back and started running again.

* * *

Jiraiya held the modified Tengoku armband up to the light. Guerrera watched him inspect his work. Carefully he turned it over, the silver glistening in the midday sun. If someone just glanced at it, it seemed to just be the same as all the other armbands. A simple symbol on metal. But the changes were minute.

It was no longer steel, but silver. That metal adding power to the second change. The Tengoku symbal was made up of no less than fifty special seals, done incredibly close together. It had taken Jiraiya a month to get them perfectly right. Then it had taken Guerrera a week to duplicate just one exactly in the pliable silver. If even one seal was out of place it could be disastrous. It was made all the harder because the final seal made the silver unscratchable. A strike from a sword or chakra blast would not harm the silver in any way. This was to prevent the seals from being tampered with or disfigured in battle.

Yoshi came over, looking at it as well, wearing five pairs of glasses, each one bigger than the last.

"Is that seal there the one that channels the cloud infusion?" he asked Jiraiya, who nodded in response.

Jiraiya pulled out a small vial of blood he had taken from Naruto days ago and put two drops onto the seal. It was quickly absorbed. The black seal glowed white for a few seconds then faded.

"OK it's done. It should work now." Jiraiya said cautiously.

"Well let's test it." Yoshi clapped his hands together in anticipation.

"Not so fast!" Guerrera exclaimed. "What if it doesn't work? Can't we try it on one of Naruto's clones first?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "It won't work on clones. It has to be a real person."

"And it has to be someone who has been in Tengoku for more than three weeks." Yoshi chimed in. "The cloud particles would need to have penetrated the bloodstream."

Guerrera looked at it dubiously. "I'm sure I copied the symbols exactly, but what if..."

"Bah!" Yoshi grabbed the armband and put it on. "What if's get us nowhere! We must be bold in the face of discovery!"

Before they could say anything Yoshi bit his thumb, and slashed it across the seal. In a flash of blinding light he disappeared.

They all looked around. There was no trace of the mad scientist. Jiraiya called out, "Yoshi? Are you dead?"

They all heard a noise coming from the front of the tower, like somebody was sick. They ran outside to see Yoshi standing on the steps of the white tower, right on top of the seals Jiraiya had etched there into the floor. He looked disoriented, his face turning green. He waved to them, put his hand over his mouth then ran to the bushes and threw up his dinner from the night before.

Guerrera laughed and clapped Jiraiya on his back, almost sending the smaller man tumbling. "Well it worked!"

Jiraiya nodded with a grin. "Now we can use the wind streams to go anywhere, and not worry about trekking back home. Our warriors can be home with that modified reverse summoning jutsu. It just needs Naruto's blood to activate each armband."

Guerrera smiled. "That will be good news for everyone. "

* * *

Anko threw her Kunai viciously into the target. With a wrench, she pulled the invisible wire on the ends and they came free, with a flick of her fingers they were back in her palms and she let them fly again. She repeated this, picturing certain faces in her mind.

She almost didn't hear the footsteps behind her. She swirled, her face a mask of anger and agony. Iruka put his hands up to show he meant her no harm. She scowled at him, then turned back to her target to continue her practice. She wasn't up to her normal standards, but she was still in recovery from her ordeal.

Iruka watched her for a few minutes, then snapped his fingers, trying to draw her attention. She turned around frustrated.

"What!"

Iruka looked grim. He stepped forward, putting his fingers on her wrist and tapped. Anko knew the basic morse code that all ninja learned so she was able to decipher it.

"Yes I want revenge for all that was done to me. Why the hell wouldn't I?" she asked, practically shouting at him.

He kept tapping furiously.

"You... you what?" she asked, her anger dying down. "Just you and me?"

Iruka nodded and smiled, pointing to his throat and then tapped some more.

"Yes I see what you mean. But do you think you have the skill for that kind of work? You were just a chuunin teacher after all." Anko asked again, looking at Iruka differently than before.

Iruka looked fierce, a steel edge in his eyes.

His fingers tapped out very clearly; 'Yes. Look around you Anko. Anything is possible in this world with hard work and determination. Give me six months, and I will be better than you. Better than anyone.'

Anko nodded. Something about his face made her believe it. "I will also improve in six months Iruka. So don't think you're getting better than ME just yet. You have a plan?"

She watched intently as he tapped out his thoughts. She nodded again. "Yes." She smiled at him grimly, then turned back to her targets.

Iruka walked away to do some training of his own.

In six months they would be ready to return to Konoha. In six months they would be the perfect silent assassination team or die trying. Iruka would protect all his students in Konoha, even if he had to kill every Iwa or ROOT ninja himself to do it.

* * *

Kakashi watched Naruto go through the Sage Kata's over the top of his book. He'd long ago memorized the contents of his favorite series, every single word, but it served to its purposed. Most people were reluctant to disturb him while he was reading it, and it gave him time to think.

Naruto had come very far. Kakashi saw a lot of the Fourth in him. Naruto grown physically to look almost like a clone of his father. His hair had gotten longer, and he was getting taller and filling out from all the work he did. It helped that he no longer ate Ramen every day of course. But more than the physical appearance, his attitude reminded him greatly of the Fourth. Naruto had fully embraced the role of protector of Tengoku. His will of fire was what the Third would always talk about as being at the heart of Konoha. Danzo had never understood that.

He heard footsteps come up behind him and without looking he knew who approached.

"He's looking pretty good out there." Jiraiya exclaimed with no small measure of pride.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. He's able to channel the Natural energy into his moves seamlessly."

Jiraiya watched carefully, noticing Naruto's eyes while he followed the instructions of Pa Toad. There was a dark red shadow around his eyes, and Jiraiya could swear he'd seen his pupils become square. This was the only sign that he'd undergone any transformation of all. Sheepishly Jiraiya recalled that even he could not use Sage Chakra perfectly, his face taking on Toad like characteristics when he did use it, and only if Ma and Pa Toad helped him.

"He's surpassed me now," Jiraiya said to Kakashi, watching the Kata's wistfully.

Kakashi was startled. "How can that be?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "He's got a natural talent for it. It's like, if he doesn't know something is impossible, he can achieve it. I'd say right now he's achieved mastery of the Sage Arts. In less than three months."

They watched in silence for a minute as Naruto started an all out battle with some clones, trying to incorporate the Sage Kata moves. They saw a clone form a Rasengen and try to hit him with it. He dodged it, but the ground exploded with the impact, sending a cloud of dust flying everywhere.

"I've been thinking," Kakashi said casually. "It's time he knew the truth about the Rasengan. That it's an incomplete Jutsu."

"Hmph." Jiraiya looked up to see Naruto flipping in the air, landing on the neck of one of his clones. "I agree. The Fourth would have wanted him to be the one to finish it."

They saw Naruto get some distance from his attackers and slowly pushed his hands out wide, then slapped them together in front of him at arms length. A wave of wind slammed into the clones, dispersing them. The spar was over. His eyes had faded back to normal.

"Hey Naruto, come over here. We want to talk to you about something." Jiraiya called out.

* * *

Calamity stood before the targets... over one hundred yards away, holding her body steady in a firing stance. N'uihc stood next to her, criticizing everything about her, from the way she stood, how she held her arms, how she held the bow, how she drew the bow... it was a never ending tirade of negative criticism. And then came the switch. It was just a cattail reed that he would poke at whatever part of her was the slightest bit out of place. The pokes actually hurt, as bad as his finger flicks did, if not worse because the fuzzy end made her itch after it left.

When he wasn't using it to poke at her to point out his criticisms, he tickled her with it. Not in the childish teasing way that could've been amusing, but in the extremely annoying way where he was doing the least he could to distract her out of her stance, which was quite often perfect once he'd stopped poking her.

Not that Calamity thought there was anything wrong with the way she'd stood when shooting her arrows before, but she did have to admit that all the little nuances and subtle changes N'uihc had made to her stance made a bigger difference than she had expected. She could literally feel the strength of force she could put behind her shots now, it was phenomenal. Not to mention, she discovered when shooting in this stance, she actually had better control over her arrows than before.

But the moment she moved the slightest bit out of her stance, the poking came back and the criticism started up worse than ever. The tickling though, was getting _really_ annoying! And she was starting to itch every place the fuzzy end had touched her, and that was pissing her off!

N'uihc stopped the tickling for a brief moment, and Calamity allowed herself a short exhalation of relief, only to see out of the corner of her eye that her sensei was about to start all over again. Her patience snapped and she released the string to block the cattail with the wood of her bow before immediately going back into her stance and re-drawing the string.

N'uihc smiled suddenly and exclaimed, "Oh ho, so it is that you wish poor N'uihc to rid you of your next most glaring weakness then? So eager are you to become a True Archer that you would challenge the Master of Sinanju to teach a woman how to defend and defeat opponents both near and far? Bah! Though the Master of Sinanju can do all things, you ask for much. Much indeed."

Calamity gulped and wished she'd kept her temper in line. Although... it had been a mostly instinctual reaction. Plus, she knew that at close-range, there wasn't a lot she could do. She remembered the battle of the Crescent Moon Kingdom, and how without her teammates, or Kakashi, or the soldiers around, she would have been overrun and taken out of the fight before it was even halfway over. Her small hand-held crossbows were good at mid-range, and up to a few feet from her. But if an opponent ever got as close as N'uihc was to her right now, even with her crossbows, there wasn't much she could do. And she only knew a bit of grappling, and maybe a couple punches and kicks from watching Sakura, Hiroka, and others training and fighting. It would do her little good against a trained opponent.

"Hm, though you are a woman and should not fight, Lord Tenshikage has asked poor N'uihc to teach you and turn you into a Daitenshi worthy of the true Tengoku. It will be an interesting challenge. Yes, and the Master of Sinanju never turns down a worthy challenge. Very well then!" With that said, he started tickling her with the cattail worse than before, and Calamity had a feeling it would only get worse if she didn't try to block or stop him, but the consequences of leaving her stance for longer than the time it took to do so were too terrifying to contemplate.

She managed to ignore it for only a few seconds before trying to block the next tickle attack. She immediately got back into her stance, only to get an earful of N'uihc shouting whole new criticisms at her, this time with the way she had used her bow to block the 'attack' as well as why it took her so long to retaliate in the first place. Interspersed with renewed criticism about her stance as her elbow was slightly lower than it should be, and her fingers were placed too high...

And so her training continued.

* * *

"So, it's not complete?" Naruto asked in astonishment. He'd long ago figured his Rasengan as one of his most powerful attacks. Of course he had some wind attacks now that were formidable, but the Rasengan was one of the most effective ones in his arsenal. And besides, it was his dad's special move. It had a certain place in his heart.

"No. The Fourth wanted to take it beyond what it is now. You see Naruto, the Rasengan is pure chakra. It is a shape transformation of one's chakra, forcing it into a ball. But that's only the first stage. That stage took Minato three years to figure out. Unfortunately he died before completing the rest of it." Kakashi said aloud.

Naruto looked puzzled. "What's the next step?"

Jiraiya replied. "Introducing your element into the Rasengan. So far you've just managed to manipulate pure chakra, but you've also simultaneously got to put –in your case- wind chakra into it."

Naruto allowed his mouth to hang slightly open.

"Is that possible? I mean I have some wind techniques that convert my chakra into wind, but the Rasengan already requires so much..."

"Exactly. Neither of us..." Jiraiya pointed to Kakashi, "have been successful in adding elemental chakra into the Rasengan."

"In fact, my attempts to add my lightning element failed, but it did lead me to the creation of the Chidori." Kakashi said.

Naruto nodded, and formed a Rasengan in his hand. With all the guidance from Tenchi and Jiriaya he'd been receiving, along with the advancement of his sage techniques, he'd been able to form a Rasengan in his palm without using a shadow clone. But it required immense concentration. He'd not gotten to the point where it'd be useful in a battle. Most times he'd still need a shadow clone to help him form it. Not that that was a huge problem, he could form an almost unending string of clones.

The very idea that now he had to do something else on top of just forming the Rasengan was daunting, but if it was his father's unfinished Jutsu...

"OK, so where do I start? What's my first step?" he asked looking at the spinning ball of energy in his palm.

Jiraiya and Kakashi looked at each other and shrugged.

"We don't know. I mean we weren't able to do it, so if we give you pointers it may lead you down the wrong path." Kakashi said.

Jiraiya nodded in agreement. "Take your time and think about it. Come at it in your own way. Maybe then you'll be able to complete the jutsu."

Naruto allowed the Rasengen to dissolve and looked at them. He nodded and walked over to the training grounds to continue his Sage training with Pa Toad – who was waiting impatiently.

* * *

Nagi collapsed exhausted in his bed. He managed a small grin but even that hurt. He couldn't decide if his new Sensei was a personification of evil itself, or if he transcended evil and made evil look like a fluffy puppy in comparison. Regardless of how he felt towards N'uihc, it was hard to argue with results. Nagi felt a lot more...cohesive...about his Capoeira. It was becoming instinctual. Whereas before he knew how to fight because he practiced and practiced sequenced moves, he was beginning to understand the 'flow' of his martial art.

It really was a deadly dance, and he had to let the rhythm flow out of him.

He sunk into a blissful sleep, dead to the world.

_The flames __leapt__ and caught the curtains. In truth the fire seemed to have a mind of it's own. _

"_Get behind me!" the man said, pushing a woman behind him, taking a defensive position in front of her. The fire jumped from wall to wall, arcing toward them. The man danced in place, his left leg arcing behind him, then the right, then he was spinning in mid air, deflecting the fire with a sweep. The fire regrouped and – incredibly – seemed to stand before them._

"_Ahhhh... your Majestyyyy..." The voice in the fire crackled as it spoke. No one present seemed surprised by this. "Your time has come to...bowww. Bow to your new master."_

"_The day I bow to you has not come yet Shisho. You and your thugs will pay for what you've done!" the man said._

_The woman clutched a baby in her arms tightly. The man seemed to coil again, as the fire __leapt__ forward. It was an incredible sight, the man spinning and kicking, sweeping and dodging in the middle of a raging firestorm. But it was to no avail. The fire engulfed him and he fell to his knees, looking back at the woman._

"_R...Runnn.."_

_The woman turned to go, but was struck as well by a lick of flame, catching her clothes on fire incredibly fast. She held the baby away from her clothes and dove out of the castle window, aiming for the immense lake that was a mere fifteen feet away from the back wall. As they approached the water, her skin already smoldering, she whispered quietly._

"_Nagi."_

_They hit the water suddenly, her body taking the force of the fall, cushioning it for the baby._

Nagi woke up in a cold sweat, eyes bulging.

* * *

Mabry surveyed the wagon train full of goods. Fifteen wagons in total. This was the first trading shipment Tengoku was sending out. The merchants had been clamoring for it. The town needed to sustain itself and this would be one of the ways. The citizens wanted to be useful in building their city as well. In as much as it was a hidden village, they recognized that this was a fledgling city and needed trade. They needed to earn money. So various merchants had manufactured the very best items they could. Clothes and tapestries of the finest quality Mabry had ever seen. The care taken in making them was evident. There were pots and pans that looked sturdy and useful. A clockmaker had his wares in one wagon as well. A junk dealer had a wagon full of antique items he had carefully restored from the garbage pile in the center of the island. Mabry was sure many of those items were extremely valuable.

The merchants were offering him a percentage of any earnings, but he'd declined, saying instead they'd pay it as tax to the village council. Of course the trip was also serving as a test mission for the first batch of Academy students. While Genosuke, Syren, Mirrun and Inari had taken part in the Wave defense, that had been with help from the Tenshi level warriors, and the council, plus a hefty dose of thousands of Naruto clones.

This was to be their first solo mission. Only Mabry was going along as their supervisor. The team walked over to him, looking excited at the prospect of their first 'D class' mission.

"Team 3 reporting for duty Master Mabry!" Inari said, a little over enthusiastically. Mabry grimaced.

"OK first off," he stood tall, pulling himself to his full height, "I am not Master Mabry, I am the Magnificent Milford Mabry!" he said loudly, two small explosions and a puff of smoke going off in his outstretched hands.

Inari and his team looked at him dumbfounded, a single bead of sweat forming on each of their heads. (except for Gennosuke who was looking in the wrong direction. He did that often, for his own fun, playing up the 'being blind' angle.)

"Umm..." Inari said. "OK. Magnificent Milford Mabry. Team 3 reporting, sir."

Mabry grinned widely. "Excellent! You Tendou acquaint yourself with every merchant in this train. We leave in five minutes! It's going to be a bumpy ride!"

* * *

_**Yomi, Land of the Dead.**_

"My Lord Magnus." Ji-Hoon groveled before his king. "I have found traces of Kyuubi around the world, but nothing of where his lair is."

The King shifted, his armor grating in the bone throne. The glow of unholy light and smoke escaping from the spaces in his helmet flared up momentarily.

"Fool. I gave you a simple task and again you fail me?"

"I...I have found the lair's of the other Tailed Beasts." Ji-Hoon offered, trying to find some way to save himself.

"What do I care where those weaklings are. Lesser demons too afraid to return to our realm. They are of no consequence." The King stood and walked forward. "Yet...perhaps. Yes," he said thinking aloud.

"It may draw Kyuubi out if the other Tails were captured or killed." Magnus pondered.

Ji-Hoon saw his salvation. "Brilliant my Lord. I can do this for you."

Magnus looked at him with disgust. "You will do no such thing. You have failed me enough. You will guide my generals to these 'Tails'."

With a wave of his hand, three other figures appeared, flanking Ji-Hoon. He stared at them incredulously. Magnus had many Generals, but Ji-Hoon knew these by name, whispered in fear even among the damned. They too were half-breeds, possessing the cursed human blood that would allow them to walk in the sunlight.

"Go now. Kill the Tailed beasts and draw out the Kyuubi!" Magnus ordered thunderously.

* * *

**OMAKE's by Joshua the Evil Guy!**

_**Monkey Throws Banana**_

Senjii was walking along the marketplace one morning, on his way to the training grounds, when he saw an unusual sight. A citizen entertaining a group of children too young for the Academy. He was juggling.

"Hmm..." he had an idea!

A few minutes later at the training ground saw Senjii trying to juggle his swords...

That evening, just before sunset, Senjii was practicing his new move;

"Monkey Throws Banana!" he shouted and threw his right kodachi at the target. The blade lit up with energy and spun like a massive saw blade, atomized the target and then looped back around where Senjii caught it with another shout of, "Monkey Grabs Banana!"

_**Hop Step**_

Senjii was walking along the marketplace one morning, on his way to the training grounds, when he saw an unusual sight. A group of girls playing some kind of game that made them hop inside numbered squares drawn in the dirt as they balanced on one foot at a time to retrieve a tossed cloth ball before reversing their steps. It was awkward and imprecise, but the muscles being exercised by the game were the same as what he used when using his Flash Step.

"Hmm..." he had an idea!

A few minutes later at the training ground saw Senjii playing hopscotch to improve his Flash Step.

That evening, just before sunset, Senjii was practicing his new move;

"Hop Step!" he called right before there was a series of blurred arches all across the field. It might be a bit slower, not the near-invisible speed of his Flash Step, but it did allow him better maneuvering, which allowed him to attack, defend and dodge while using his high speed move.

* * *

**Author's note**

Greetings patient readers...*insert excuse for long wait here..sigh*. Hopefully the length of this one will make up for it (over 14,000 words!)

1. OMAKE's! Yes my fantastic beta / co-author now, Evil Joshua has given me not only several chunks of this chapter, but Omakes :) So I am now petitioning anyone who is interested, to submit an Omake training montage for any character they like. The best ones will be included in the next installment.

2. No more new characters needed. I've had enough submissions to write a whole other story! LOL. Also quite frankly some of the characters are so original i'd love to see them used in their own stories. You know who you are.

3. Again, not going to be skipping time, but I promise it won't get dull.

Thanks for reading and reviewing guys! I'm almost past 1000 reviews! that's just insane to me. :)

Excelsior!


	25. Chapter 25 : The Stars, The Moon

**Chapter 25**

**The Stars, The Moon**

_**Tengoku**_

Naruto took a deep breath and opened his eyes, the crimson lines around his lids denoting his channeling natural energy. The rock hurtling towards him was easily five feet across. He brought his right foot forward and drove his palm toward it, channeling the natural energy throughout his body. The rock exploded into millions of fragments and clouds of dust. Right behind it came another boulder, hurtling towards him at incredible speed. He ground his toes into the ground and leaned forward, grabbing the boulder in mid-flight and twisting, flung it straight up into the air. He bent at the waist, and brought his forearm down, parallel to the ground, gathering his chakra. It swirled around while the boulder reached its apex above him.

In a flash, Naruto was on top the boulder, using his version of a Hiraishin to appear a foot or so above it. With a crack he slapped the rock with his open palm, pushing chakra into it, trying to spread it evenly across the entire target. The result was devastating. Sand rained down upon the training field.

Pa Toad looked on with approval. Naruto was progressing nicely. His use of Toad Kata was improving in leaps and bounds. His control of natural energy was also almost perfect. However, Pa thought that Naruto seemed distracted. He was running through the exercises almost like he was on auto-pilot.

When Naruto landed, Pa hopped over to him.

"Why aren't you concentrating?" he asked sternly.

Naruto looked down at his palm and formed a Rasengan. He showed it to Pa.

"I don't understand how I can put elemental chakra into this," Naruto said plaintively. "I've been thinking about it night after night. I just don't see it. I tried a shadow clone, pushing wind chakra into it, but it just blows up, and I don't understand why."

Pa looked at the spinning ball closely. "I see. Naruto what forms do your wind attacks normally take."

"Cutting attacks or blunt attacks."

"Yes. Both of which for you are massive attacks. If it's one thing I've realized, it's that you just don't understand things on a small scale. So think bigger."

Naruto nodded thoughtfully. "Think...bigger..."

* * *

_**Shingao Valley, East of Tengoku**_

"I'm completely bored." Inari said to no one in particular, gazing into the crowd from above the canopy of the wagon he was on. They'd arrived at the valley three days ago without incident. Since then there had been a steady influx of traders. Now the valley was the busiest place Inari had ever seen, and he'd been to quite a few big cities with his grandfather Tazuna when they traveled. Mabry sure had gotten the word out to anyone who might possibly want to trade, and EVERYONE showed up. Mabry made certain that flags bearing the symbol of Tengoku ringed the caravan and trading area.

"Gotta let everyone know who they're dealing with," he had said with a smile and a wink.

The quality of the goods coming from Tengoku was of extremely high grade. Textiles, clothing, pottery, jewelry. All of it was selling. Gold was flowing freely between merchants and traders. It made Inari a little nervous, all that gold. Like they were ripe to be attacked. It seemed destined to happen. Mabry fluttered around here and there, assisting when some haggling got out of hand, but otherwise it was all peaceful.

Nothing materialized on the first day.

Nor the second.

Today was the third day and they would be packing up soon to head back. Inari felt like his nerves were raw and stretched, just waiting for something to happen. His teammates were also likewise feeling the weight of the responsibility on their shoulders. As the first batch of Academy Graduates they represented their village. His 'big brother' Naruto's village. He would not allow them to bring disgrace to it.

He glanced around the caravan looking for his friends and teammates. He spied Gennosuke sprawled out seemingly asleep on a stool slightly to the side of the massive crowd. Inari knew he was not asleep however. Every now and then Gen's seeing eye stick hit the ground, faintly. So small a movement most would miss it. But each time he did, it released a low grade chakra pulse that allowed him to 'see' everything better than a normal person could. He once described it like a bat sending out sound waves. Of course Inari knew what a bat was, but the whole concept of sound waves was a little too much for him. He just nodded and smiled. He knew all he needed to. Gennosuke could 'see' better than he could, and could pick out things he might miss. Right now he was monitoring the crowd looking for weapons.

Across on the other side of the crowd, Mirrun was in the shadows between two wagons, her golden eyes glinting in the darkness. Somewhere on the outside was Syrren. He was supposed to remain hidden, as an ace in the hole for if they were attacked.

The dynamic of their team was strong. Initially Tenchi-sensei had wanted to split them into a three man cell. It was how most ninja teams were arranged. Well nothing about Tengoku was conventional. The four of them were a cohesive unit. The first team out of the Academy from the City of Heaven.

A low whistle came up from Gennosuke.'s position. To the typical passerby it would seem as though he was whistling a song, but it was a signal they had all worked out. Inari tensed, on high alert now he scanned the crowd. There. He saw a man in a brown cloak moving awkwardly. Then another, and another.

He counted ten men in brown cloaks moving though the crowded market place. He hummed the tune Gennosuke was whistling to himself, excitement coursing through him. They'd talked about it so many times that he moved without thinking. Tenchi-sensei had drilled it into them. When faced with a larger force, and cannot retreat, then strike first, strike hard, strike fast.

There was one cloaked man who'd stopped right beneath Inari's wagon, shifting nervously from side to side. Inari let out a low breath and dropped down silently behind the man, clubbing him and dropping him to the ground instantly. In the same fluid movement he pulled him beneath the wagon and out onto the other side. Moving fluidly enough that he hoped no one saw the attack. He propped the man up against the wagon and listened. No one raised any sort of alarm. Quickly, he flung open the man's coat and revealed a series of daggers strapped all over his body. With a nod to himself – having confirmed that he could not be up to any good – he climbed swiftly back to the top of the wagon. The other potential bandits had not yet noticed one of their number missing.

Gennosuke was now walking through the crowd like a wraith towards where three of the "bandits" were approaching a table with Tengoku merchants and Mabry. Inari could have sworn he saw Mabry looking at them and glancing at him with a small smile. Inari eyed the remaining six men in coats, catching Mirrun's eye and nodding towards them. She smiled and did not move. A shimmer of water beneath a wagon across from him told Inari where Syrren was now placed, waiting for his signal.

The first of the three men drew an impossibly large hammer from beneath his coat and slammed it down, breaking the Merchant's table. Mabry and the merchants scrambled back. The hammer swung again, knocking a female merchant who hadn't moved quickly enough aside.

"We've come for your valuables! Make any wrong moves and everyone here dies!" He shouted.

Mabry nodded grimly, holding the injured female merchant. Her arm and at least a few ribs had to have been broken. He watched closely to see how the Cherubs performed.

Inari sprang towards the two men closest to him, trusting in his teammates. He brought his mini crossbow's to bear on them, firing in mid air. His first bolt took the first man in the neck. The other was moving with some skill and managed to avoid the arrow. He drew a wicked looking two pronged sword and turned to face Inari with a snarl.

Gennosuke stepped right behind the man who had slammed the hammer through the desk, mere inches from his back. The other two men flanked him and stared down in surprise at this boy who had appeared from nowhere. Gen smiled and tapped his stick once more on the ground.

The man with the hammer turned slowly to see what was behind him. Gen took one of his throwing knives and sliced once across, deep, then stepped back. Before anyone knew what was going on the man's bowels slipped out in a torrent. He stared in shock as he spilled onto the dirt. The two other men reached for their swords in a panic but Gen just looked like he jumped up slightly, arms outstretched like a crucifix, and quickly retracting. He took another step backwards. Both men's eyes bulged at the throwing knives that were thrust though the soft underside of their jaws and into their brains. Blackness took them. The large hammer wielding man slumped down and gurgled, trying to pull his intestines back into his body like wet slippery rope.

Mirrun clanged her fists together, her metal gloves sparking. The two bandits closest to her saw her face, and a flash of gold before she disappeared. The first man took a metal fist to his nose without ever knowing what was happening. The bone shards impaling his brain. He fell in a slump silently. The second swung his sword in a wide arc wildly, hoping to catch something, anything. A merchant who was too close screamed in pain as the sword sliced his back. Mirrun appeared again behind this bandit and slammed her fist into the back of his neck. The sharp crack told her that he'd never move again.

Syrren solidified with a feral grin not two feet away from his targets. After days of doing nothing but waiting, it felt good to be active. He ran up the chest of the first man, moon somersaulting and kicking him in the chin. "Didn't expect that did you!" he laughed. The second man swung a club at him, but he ducked under and swiped, taking his legs out from under him. Grinning madly, Syrren jumped against the wagon wall, and back flipped against the man, cracking his neck with his knee. "I call that one _Starship Pain_!" He dissolved into a ball of water again, and shifted as the first man swung wildly about with a pair of daggers. He erupted beneath the man, and solidified inside of his reach. His legs wrapped around the man's neck and he fell forward, twisting as they hit the ground. "And that's the _Rough Rider_!" Syrren laughed looking around to see how his friends did.

Inari blocked the sword strike with his left forearm bracer and countered with a strike to the man's solar plexus. He fell to his knees winded. Inari swung in a three sixty backhand, letting the metal bracer catch the man on this side of his head. He fell in a heap and never got up again.

With a look around to his friends, he saw that all of them had taken their targets out. Mabry stood up, motioning for someone to come take care of the injured merchants.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Protection of Tengoku extends to all of our guests here today. We'll have this cleaned up momentarily and we can finish this last day of trading before we go home. Thank you for your patience!"

With a quick nod, the boys began moving the bodies away from the cheering crowds to the outside of the wagons. Inari got there first, to find that the first bandit he had clubbed was not there. He turned to see the man rushing at him with a small sledgehammer, a vicious snarl on his face.

A hand came between the wagons and slammed a solid iron wok into the bandit's face. He crumpled backwards in a curse, blood streaming from his broken nose. An elderly man stepped out and hit him again with the wok. The bandit lay still, unconscious.

Inari smiled at the man. "Thank you. I guess I should have tied him up first."

The older man turned and smiled warmly at him. "We should thank you. My daughter and I have made arrangements to come with Master Mabry and the caravan back to Tengoku, so it's pleasing to see how well trained the genin are there."

Inari laughed. "Well we're not called genin, we're Tendou. But thanks. I'm Inari."

The old man extended his hand to shake. "I'm Teuchi, and my daughter Ayame will be coming with me. Inari, you know, I think I've heard your name before…"

* * *

Mabry nodded in satisfaction to himself as the cleanup completed, he kicked dirt over the blood stains on the ground. The young ones did well, if a little brutal. But that would serve his purpose just fine. It set the example that you did not interfere with Tengoku when they were trading. The merchants were happy, and felt safer than they had before the excitement. Several were clamoring for more frequent trading trips. They had almost completely sold out their goods, and the buyers were leaving happily as well. The quality of goods bought here would surely sell for much higher in their hometowns and profits would be had by all.

Not for the first time he considered the problem of Tengoku being as isolated as it was. It made trade that much more difficult. He figured that they could just make monthly trips to this same spot, but it was hard to defend a wagon train. There were no walls, nothing to keep unwanted people out. Nor was sleeping in wagons at night comfortable for the merchants and buyers. Truthfully he needed a safe town to take over and use once a month.

He'd have to talk to Tenchi and the other council members about it when they got home. It would be difficult to explain though. To a man they were all fighters, and understood nothing about trade and commerce.

Late into the evening he watched as the last buyer left, and the fires of the torches lit the happy faces of the merchants of Tengoku. A few wagons would be added to their train, a few people Mabry had met and felt could be trusted to become useful citizens of Tengoku. They'd have to meet Naruto of course, his word on it being final.

"Pack it up!" Mabry shouted with a smile. "We head home to Tengoku tonight! I mean for us to be home before the week is out!"

* * *

_**Konohagakure**_

It had been a little over a year and a half since the last Uchiha left Konoha, supposedly forever. It had been roughly one month since his return. Neither the Uchiha, nor Konoha were happy about this of course.

As for Sasuke, nothing much had changed for him, save that he was already familiar with the 'training grounds' Orochimaru had dragged him to this time. That was the pattern ever since he'd left Konoha to join Orochimaru, to gain power from him. They would move locations every other week or so, always underground or well-hidden hideouts or labs or prisons or pretty much any place where Orochimaru could do his experiments and Sasuke could train. They would only stay longer if either Orochimaru wanted to finish an experiment first, or if Sasuke had yet to complete an objective of his training, such as when he'd been mastering his true lightning jutsu, _Kirin, _when they were in Lightning Country.

To be in one place for this long was chaffing Sasuke after more than a year of constantly moving around from place to place. He was feeling anxious. And like he was going backwards.

He needed something to do.

Orochimaru, however, was happily designing all sorts of new experiments, while bringing out a few older, partially successful ones to satiate Danzo's lust for power. Besides, he'd had all he could stand of the Snake Sannin for this week with his training from the day before. He had learned the lessons easily and quickly enough, he only needed to practice to fully incorporate the new techniques into his style and repertoire. It used to be he had a few dozen Sound Chuunin to use as target practice, and if not them, a few hundred prisoners, or Kabuto could usually give him some interesting targets.

Now... now, he had restrictions. Can't attack the ANBU, can't attack the ROOT, can't attack the Iwa ninja in Konoha. Too bad Naruto wasn't still around. If nothing else, Sasuke could always count on the dobe for a good fight whenever the mood struck either of them.

"Hn, speak of the dobe," said Sasuke as he rounded the corner of one building and saw something unexpected. It was some graffitti on the wall of an old abandoned building. Sasuke's memories told him the building used to be the Ichiraku Ramen stand that Naruto would always drag them to after a successful mission. Sasuke always liked the pork ramen. He vaguely recalled a report that just the week before about ninety percent of all civilian-run businesses disappeared overnight. Apparently Ichiraku Ramen was one of them.

The graffitti was an orange spiral, modeled after the circular patch that had been on the back of Naruto's jacket and on the shoulder patches of the Konoha standard uniform. A patch that, the Uchiha realized, was absent in the modern uniform under Danzo's regime. Instead it had been replaced by the symbol for the ROOT, which was just the katakana in white on a black patch. Older shinobi merely changed their attire so they didn't bother wearing anything resembling a standard Konoha uniform, which was the way most could tell the difference between ROOT ninja, Konoha ninja, and Iwa ninja. Stepping closer to the graffitti, Sasuke saw that there was more to it than just the orange spiral. At the center were the kanji for "Na" although they were spaced oddly.

"Na?" he said out loud, "Exorcism?"

Then he caught the light a certain way on the graffiti and realized that it wasn't the word "Na", but the abbreviation for "N.A."

Remembering a debrief from the other day, Sasuke smirked and almost laughed as he realized what he was looking at. A tag for "Naruto's Army". Who would have thought, he mused, the dobe gets an army named after him and becomes a Kage to boot. All before he was sixteen years old. Most ninja hadn't even made jounin by his age, and he was a Kage with a village and an underground movement named after him, all at his beck and call.

Sasuke allowed a brief surge of jealousy to rise up within him as he thought of what he would do with such means at his disposal. Itachi's days would be numbered. As it was, while the younger Uchiha was working on a plan, recent changes had forced him to reevaluate some factors. It would be at least another two years, possibly more before he would be ready to face his clan's murderer. He needed an edge, and while Orochimaru used to be that edge in preparing him, seeing Danzo, all his forces, and the state of Konoha, he knew it was no longer enough.

Perhaps...

Sasuke dismissed the thought before it had even formed. Whoever or whatever Naruto's Army was, they were just dissidents and pranksters. There used to be only a single elite ninja among their ranks, and he had fled Konoha months ago, never to be seen or heard from again. That it was the same elite ninja that had given Sasuke the key to his ultimate technique was irrelevant, as the man would be killed on sight if ever seen near Konoha again. Whoever else was a part of Naruto's Army was insignificant and obviously pathetic if they were resorting to tagging as their only means of rebelling now.

Putting it out of his mind, Sasuke resumed his walk to the training grounds. He needed to do something. He wanted to practice, but there were none worthy, or freely available, to practice with.

That was when he spotted a familiar face among the crowd of civilians clearing a path as Sasuke walked amongst them.

Ino was minding her own business when the next-to-last person she'd ever thought she'd never want to see appeared right in front of her. For years, seeing Sasuke was the highlight of her day, and being the subject of his attention was what she strove for most days. So it surprised her how much she _didn't_ want to see Sasuke or be the subject of his attention at that precise moment, when he appeared in her path on her way back to her parent's flower shop—from the Administration building—where she was now being trained as an IT ninja—by her father no less.

"Ino," the Uchiha greeted her.

She bowed her head once and continued on, saying only his name in reply. "Uchiha-san."

He stared after her for a few seconds before grabbing her by the arm and said, "I need your assistance with something. Come with me."

Ino stopped walking and locked her arm in place. Slowly, calmly, she turned to face her former crush and told him, "Let go of my arm, Sasuke."

"Come with me, and I just may," he said.

Ino no longer needed just eye contact in order to enact her family jutsu, although in order for it to work at all it needed either eye contact or physical contact. Fortunately for her, Sasuke was providing exactly that. She was inside his mind before he knew what was going on. She repeated, directly into his mind this time, "Let. Go. Of. My. Arm. Now!" He released her.

Frowning, his Sharingan activated as he followed her to the roof where she had retreated to.

She was out of sight with no physical trace to say where she'd gone, but with his Sharingan active, he could track her by her chakra and the trail she left behind from that. It was a fun little chase, a good distraction, which is exactly what he needed. He finally managed to corner her right across from the Hyuuga Hot Springs.

"What is this even about?" she screamed at him.

"Come with me and find out," was all he would say to her.

"No!" she defied him, and drew two kunai.

"Fine then, be that way," he scoffed and made to attack. Before he got even two steps, however, he was stopped by a squad of ANBU. None of them were displaying the ROOT badges, in fact they were cloaked from head to toe and wore the standard ANBU animal masks, telling Sasuke more than enough about his current situation.

"You really should pay more attention to your surroundings, Uchiha-sama," said a man in a long dark coat, his long blond hair done back in a pony tail. Beneath the coat he wore the dark gray uniform of the IT Division. "Especially when chasing my daughter for some non-given reason."

"What business is it of ANBU if I want to have a conversation with a kunoichi?" Sasuke accused him.

"When that kunoichi happens to be my subordinate, a trainee in the IT Division of ANBU, and one of the Hokage's personal secretaries," Yamanaka replied. "I don't know how much you and your master are used to getting away with, Uchiha-sama, but if you are of the belief that the Hokage, the Emperor of Konoha and Iwa, is so desperate for the aid of your master that he gives you carte blanche, you are gravely mistaken."

"And what makes you say something so treasonous as to believe you speak for Danzo?" Sasuke smirked. He'd seen the type that was Danzo before. They loved to micro-manage things, and at the slightest hint of a betrayal, heads would start to roll. Literally.

"I am stating facts, Uchiha-sama," Inoichi said, being very calm about the current situation. "It is the Hokage's duty to protect his people. The Hokage conquered another nation and more than doubled the resources that we have to call upon and more than doubled our fighting strength with but a single battle in this last war. He's brought your master here to resupply our fighting force, in order to bolster our defenses and prepare for future conflict. These are all well-known facts. But if you and your master start acting like you are the Emperors here..."

Sasuke frowned.

"Then the civilian population and any civilian-born ninja might get the idea of a civil war in their heads, especially if they see that they can no longer count on the protection of the Hokage. How long will this alliance last if you start attacking the Hokage's personal secretary? And if you were to actually go unpunished? Or, far more likely, if something unfortunate had happened to Yamanaka-san here, in order to maintain the alliance for as long as possible, what might your master have to give up? His protection of you perhaps?"

Sasuke scowled, his hand reaching for his sword. The ANBU all around tensed appropriately.

"I merely wanted to spar with her, just some training," said Sasuke. "But, now that I have half a dozen ANBU to play with, this will work out fine too."

"Kukukukuku!"

Sasuke scowled again, his hand releasing his sword. All the ANBU visibly dropped all tension in their bodies, but one didn't even need to look at them to see that they were even more on guard than before. Inoichi and Ino Yamanaka, on the other hand, both practically sighed with relief.

"What seems to be the problem here?" Orochimaru asked as he slithered his way amongst the masked shinobi to stand next to his apprentice.

"Just a misunderstanding," said Inoichi with a shrug. "Apparently Uchiha-sama never learned the proper way to ask another ninja for a training spar. Not to say that he wasn't taught, only that he failed to learn the lessons his betters endeavored to teach him."

"Oh really?" Orochimaru grinned wickedly at the blond man in the black coat.

"Perhaps you would care to explain why your apprentice approached my daughter and merely said, 'Come with me' rather than offer an invitation to train with him?" Inoichi crossed his arms expectantly.

"Hm, yesss, kukuku, of course, a lesson that we all learn in the Academy, as I recall," Orochimaru licked his lips slightly.

"Exactly," Inoichi smiled.

"What is the meaning of this?"

ROOT had arrived.

"A misunderstanding only, Centipede-san," Inoichi was starting to sweat a bit. "Nothing to trouble Danzo-sama with... unless of course his honored guest would care to make a complaint that is?"

Now all eyes were on Orochimaru, who was basking in it, or so it seemed. In the end though, the entire thing was swept under the rug. The next morning, an announcement went out to all active ninja through their supervisors and down the chain of command until even the dead last genin doing D-Ranks had heard about it. There were to be no more unauthorized trainings or sparring, and if there were to be any, all training between ninja above chuunin rank had to be reported to their immediate supervisor and approved. If there were multiple supervisors or ninja of different ranks involved, then it would go all the way up the chain of command if it had to. Requests could be denied at any time, as well as rejected by the ninja involved, but the more important aspect, and the given reason for the new rule, was to keep active duty ninja from being unnecessarily injured during training.

* * *

_**Afternoon, Training Ground 7**_

Sasuke challenged Ino again, but this time according to the new rule. Kabuto heard about it, and as he was the 'Senior Apprentice' he was the one that approved the training spar, only he made it sound more like Ino challenged Sasuke. To everyone's surprise, despite the obvious untruth, Ino accepted the challenge and agreed to face Sasuke in a training spar.

They met just outside the IT Division employee entrance and walked together to Training Ground 7. Neither said a word the whole way. Once there, they stood across from each other and waited, still not saying a word. A crow cried out and took off from one of the nearby trees. They both vanished before even the first leaves had been shaken loose.

Sasuke considered activating his Sharingan, but this was Ino he was facing. He wanted to test himself, not kill her. So he searched for her with his normal, non-enhanced senses. He was surprised when he detected her so easily.

"Ah!" Ino startled when he appeared in front of him. She threw the kunai she'd had behind her back at him. It had been a wild throw and he easily dodged it, charging straight at her. She had another kunai in her other hand.

Before she could do much else beyond raise the weapon to defend herself, he'd drawn his katana and parried her block, knocking her to the ground. She narrowly dodged his follow-up, rolling into the underbrush, and making a wild racket as she raced to get to another hiding spot. Sasuke waited for the noises to die down. It was no fun if there wasn't at least _some_ challenge to it, right?

Once the rattling noises had ceased, he spat out a couple of fireballs into the tangle of trees around him. He didn't want to burn down the whole forest, so he kept them low level, actually having to struggle a bit _not_ to release so much chakra into the attacks.

The rattling and rustling started again from his right, and moving away from the flames. Smirking, he jumped into the trees and used the smoke to hide his presence.

He activated his Sharingan.

Tracking her was easy. Getting ahead of her in the smoke from his fire attacks, even easier.

He appeared in her path, sword sheathed and made to punch her. She blocked on instinct.

'_Good,_' he thought, '_So she's been trained to be a ninja after all. Let's see where she's at._'

He started off at the level any genin would be at after a month's training, keeping his attacks and blocks at a relatively slow speed, and using only the most basic at that. Ino kept up and even parried his attacks a couple of times, working to either get a hit at his face or knock him back with varied kicks and leg sweeps.

After about a minute of this, he moved it up a level, to where he was at when he left Konoha, IE where a genin would be at after a year's training. She kept up with his increased speed, though after her first attempt at blocking him she switched to dodging and avoiding his blows instead. She managed to get a hit through his defenses, one that would have hit him next to his left eye, but he twisted his head out of the way just enough so her fist never so much as ruffled a hair on his head.

He escalated his skill level to your average Chuunin, and soon had her on the defensive, landing blows any time she couldn't successfully dodge or avoid them. She started trying to block again, but that usually ended up injuring her just as much as if she'd let him hit in the first place. None of her attacks, not that she was attacking much anymore, made it through his defenses any longer, and even if they had they would have had no hope of landing any damage against him.

Seeing her taijutsu level for what it was, he scoffed and went full out against her, just to show her what she faced, and so she would know her place.

Flashing behind her, he hit a nerve cluster that was right below her right ribcage and above the kidneys. It paralyzed her for sixty seconds, and would have been broken the moment her face hit the ground. But to a ninja, sixty seconds is sixty eternities.

For the first thirty seconds, he used her as a training dummy, making sure not to break bones or do any internal damage, but he wasn't above bruising her entire body with as many combos as he could fit in against her paralyzed body. He finished with a strong backhand to her face that knocked her flat on her back.

Instantly she was rolling to the side to get her legs back under her and scrambling away from him, tears running down her face now. That was the other way to reverse the paralysis, other than waiting the sixty seconds, which was to realign the nerve cluster and that was as simple as knocking them on their back rather than their face. It was a lot more painful though.

"I suppose I should explain why it is you had to go through this Ino," Sasuke spoke condescendingly, "Make it so you can understand what all the pain is for, so you can understand."

He sneered and as his whole body began to spark and the distinctive sound of the Chidori started up, he concluded, "But I doubt you can ever truly understand, because the fact of the matter is, I was just so very _bored_. At least this way, I get to test my new jutsu. Try not to move, Ino. We'll get to the moving target practice in our next spar. _Chidori Senbon no jutsu_!"

And after that, all Ino knew was pain. When she regained consciousness, Sasuke was standing over her and was holding a single lightning element senbon needle between his finger tips. He put it into her forehead. She screamed and screamed, but she didn't pass out this time. He dispelled all the other senbon in her body, allowing them to ground out, leaving only insect-bite-sized burn marks all over her, save for that one that he'd put into her brain. It was still hurting her, and above all else, it was keeping her conscious and would not allow her to fall unconscious no matter what he did to her.

And he did it to her a lot, shooting wave after wave of those Chidori Senbon into her, from different angles, at different speeds, at different intensities, adjusting how much chakra he put into the technique each and every time. He even spent over fifteen minutes alternating trying it with the Sharingan and without, just to see what the difference was. It wasn't until he started looking bored, and even then not until at least a dozen more experiments, that he finally removed the one needle keeping her conscious and allowed her to pass out.

Her whole body was riddled with electric burns, and the bruises were already turning a mottled brown-blue with flushes of red by the time he finally walked away from her. After he was done with her, he left her there and went back to his apartment, the same one he'd lived in after the Uchiha Massacre, ironically enough, and cleaned up. On his way to the Hokage's Office, which were actually rented out of what used to be the Senju mansion, seeing as the new tower was still being planned and construction hadn't even started yet, he stopped to get something to eat.

As he reported in, he mentioned that somebody might want to go and check on his opponent at the Training Grounds, as he hadn't seen her moving and didn't know if she was still there or not. A genin team, on standby for their next assignment, was sent to check the grounds and take her to the hospital if they found her still there.

Just before going in for his debrief on the sparring exercise, he heard one of the genin reporting back to the ROOT Chuunin on duty that they had found her still there, lying exactly where he'd left her hours beforehand. Also, something about her regaining consciousness just as they got there and insisting that she be taken to her family estate rather than the hospital. Probably a good idea, he mused to himself as he entered the debriefing room, Kabuto would probably have her added to his 'collection' by "complications with recovery" or some other excuse. He put the whole thing out of his mind and made his report.

* * *

_**Evening, Hokage's Office**_

"Did you have fun, Sasuke?" Kabuto asked Sasuke as the Uchiha left the debriefing room.

"Hn," the stone-faced ninja said nothing and kept walking away.

"You bastard!" Inoichi Yamanaka came around the corner, fury in his eyes. He went right up to Sasuke and stopped just short of throttling the younger shinobi. "It was just supposed to be a simple sparring match! A _sparring match_! You didn't have to... have to... You BASTARD!"

Sasuke merely glared up into the older Yamanaka's eyes for a short amount of time, his dark eyes penetrating into the older man's pale blue ones, until the blue orbs flinched away. He brushed past Ino's father without saying a word, Kabuto grinning sadistically in the wake of this scene.

"What _did_ you do to young Ino-san?" the medic inquired, adjusting his glasses the way he usually did when amused by something.

"I perfected my new technique. She'll be fine in a few weeks. I used a low level version, so there was no permanent nerve damage," the Uchiha answered, sounding bored and annoyed all at the same time with every word he spoke.

"I had heard that Yamanaka-san insisted she be treated within the clan, not trusting our medics any longer. How odd," Kabuto mused.

Sasuke scoffed, prompting a curious glance from Orochimaru's elder apprentice.

"They trust the hospital just fine. It's you and Orochimaru and your presence at the hospital they don't trust. That should be obvious to everyone," said Sasuke, turning and walking away from Kabuto. The Medic allowed him to move on and turned a different corner.

He idly wondered what he should report to Orochimaru-sama first. That Sasuke was even more ruthless than previously suspected? Or that he now had a clue as to why Hospital Admittance was at an all-time low since before Konoha's founding, when there wasn't even a hospital in the first place?

* * *

_**Outskirts of Konoha**_

Asuma stretched, rubbing the feeling back into his legs. The bunker he was in was massive, at least five hundred square yards, and he had taken to walking it to try to regain some of his strength and mobility. As he was now, he was a bit more mobile than a civilian, but not quite as agile as a ninja should be.

He'd only seen Shikamaru over the past month. No one else ever came with food or news. But he understood why. Danzo's control was absolute and his ears were everywhere. Konoha had changed. Asuma scowled. He would avenge his village. As a Sarutobi, and son of the Third Hokage, he would take back the land from 'Emperor Danzo'. But a pragmatic man, Asuma had to admit his limitations. He could do very little here. The N.A. was already functioning as a small resistance movement from within the walls, but their advantage was that no one knew who they were. Shikamaru was needed as a strategist, but he–Asuma–was not.

He had made the decision to go to Wave as soon as possible, and try to put together a small guerrilla army. With such, he would bite at the flanks of Danzo's army, and fade away before they could be attacked. He sighed. That was the plan, easier said than done.

Today though, today would be the first step.

Today he left for Wave.

* * *

_**Sunagakure**_

Neji looked up at the guards as he walked through the gate. The guards perched above–that he could see–watched them warily. Hinata and Tenten walked a few paces behind him. He'd waited until they were a day out of Konoha before explaining his plan to his cousin and former team mate. Officially they were here for him to take over Gai's team, but in truth it was a way for them to train away from the prying eyes of Danzo.

Their pack camel trailing behind them, Neji entered the passageway into Sunagakure through the impenetrable mountainside. The cool shadow of the pass felt blissful against his overheated skin. He hoped that he would get a chance to explain the plan to his former Jounin Sensei without the Green Beast of Konoha flying off the handle.

"OK that makes sense."

Of all things, Neji did not expect Maito Gai to be reasonable. But he just nodded pensively. They were alone in the rooms Gaara had assigned them as ambassadors from Konoha. Of course they were spied on, Neji was sure of it. But Gai seemed to dismiss that with a wave of his hand and a look of annoyance. Tenten and Hinata were freshening up from the trip in an adjoining room while Neji, as the Jounin of the group, spoke to his former sensei.

"You may have provided us with a perfect entry point. Jiraiya wanted us to get someone senior close to Danzo. We hear he is getting more and more cautious." Gai looked to Neji for confirmation.

Neji nodded. "Yes. He takes no audience save for Orochimaru himself. Everyone else must stay a certain distance away except for his most loyal ROOT. And they all must show their face. Work has begun on his new tower, and from what I gather it's going to not just be a monument, but a fortress in and of itself.

Gai looked pensive. "Well, we are uniquely gifted with a way though those defenses." He turned to the far side of the room where a red door stood unopened.

"You can come out now," Gai said quietly.

The door opened slowly and Neji rubbed his eyes in disbelief. A second Maito Gai stood there. An exact perfect replica. He immediately activated his Byakugan and was in even more disbelief. There was no difference at all that he could see. A slight chakra difference maybe, but the shape and form of it was identical!

"Wha-What is this? A clone?" he asked incredulously.

"My name is Kisaragi Saemon," the second Gai said, in the same voice as Gai.

The first Gai nodded. "Jiraiya sent him a few weeks ago. Kisaragi can become anyone he touches. The longer the touch the more perfect the copy."

"Yes, a few seconds touch allows me to look like anyone, but if I can get a minute, I can copy their chakra and all attributes, like mannerisms and voice."

Neji looked for flaws in the copy, and found none. The possibilities for such a person…

"You're an assassin," he said finally.

Kisaragi nodded. "That's the plan. I'll work my way close to him and take him out."

Gai put his hand on Kisaragi's/Gai's shoulder. "There is no other way. Danzo must be killed."

The Green Beast of Konoha smiled at Neji just then. "However, that is not our concern at the moment. Kisaragi will work Jiraiya's plan, disguised as me initially. I may not be able to show my good looks around Suna once Kisaragi leaves, but I will supervise your training along with Hinata and Tenten. Lee is already out doing his exercises. I trust you will be able to keep up, now that you've risen to 'Jounin'."

Neji swallowed silently, but showed no emotion on his face. This was what he had wanted, a chance to train harder without Danzo being able to judge his strength.

Wasn't it?

* * *

_**Tengoku**_

"What is it?" Senjii shouted over the noise, racing along with Nagi and the other Daitenshi towards where the wind and light were coming from.

It was deafening, like a continuous brain-numbing noise that had shattered all the glass in the village. A massive light accompanied it as well, as if the sun had come down to their island. As they ran towards it, Jiraiya and Tenchi fell in with them, racing towards the source.

As they cleared the trees they stopped abruptly, not believing what they saw in front of them.

Naruto stood in the middle of the training clearing, struggling under the weight of a Rasengan easily the size of a house. He held it above him, arms outstretched as he struggled to balance the swirling chakra ball. He spotted them and gave a weak grin.

"Give me a minute!" he shouted over the din. A pair of Naruto clones Senjii did not see before appeared to be helping balance the ball. As they watched, Naruto looked like he was closing his arms together slowly. The massive ball started to shrink, smaller and smaller. Until it was just slightly bigger than a person's head. Senjii could feel the wind around him moving towards the swirling chakra.

"He's doing it!" Jiraiya said in amazement. "He's injecting wind chakra into the Rasengan!"

Senjii glanced at Jiraiya for a second before looking back at his best friend. The Rasengan's shape warped slightly and what looked like four spinning blades formed around the middle of it. Naruto held it over his head. It looked to all intents and purposes to Senjii like a very large fūma shuriken.

"I couldn't see how to do it when it was small!" Naruto shouted at them. "Pa told me think bigger so I did! Once it was large enough I realized I couldn't do two things at once, but if I had a clone I could! I formed the Rasengan shell and my clone mixed in the wind-nature chakra. The other clone is just here to check for flaws."

Tenchi smiled nervously. "Great!" he shouted back. "But what are you going to do with that now! It's too dangerous to use that on the ground! We're still on a goddamn floating island!"

Naruto frowned and looked around, the spinning compact maelstrom suspended in his palm, now realizing what he'd done. Because he had poured so much energy into the giant Rasengan, it would be almost impossible to just disperse it without some sort of explosion.

"Just throw it into the sky!" Senjii yelled anxiously.

"I can't throw a Rasengan!" Naruto yelled back. He concentrated on the ball, trying to leak the chakra slowly out of it. Letting a tiny fissure open.

Jiraiya motioned for them all to move back, "Run now, run far! If that blows we'll all get hit!"

Naruto struggled to let the chakra out of the Rasengan, but it was like trying to hold back a raging river with a teacup. Senjii stayed behind to watch, hoping his friend could do it.

After what felt like hours, although it was mere seconds, the Rasengan shrank until it was no more than the size of a marble. It still emitted a high pitched whine though, and Senjii's skin crawled. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, the built in human knowledge of impending danger.

"Naru…!" He began to shout. In the blink of an eye Naruto lost control of the ball and it exploded. Senjii just remembered a white explosion and a deafening silence as Naruto looked to be screaming at him but no words were coming out of his mouth.

Then nothing.

* * *

_**Jigoku Mountain Range**_

_**Five Miles East of Tengoku**_

Yoshi sat on the grass of the small hill studying the brick of Heavenstone he had laid on the ground. His wild hair was more disheveled than normal as he made notes, studying it from every angle.

"Fascinating Yoshi," he murmured to himself with a grin. The Heavenstone performed beyond even his wildest predictions. After seeing how well it worked when formed into the Gate to Tengoku, Yoshi had been exploring other uses for this wondrous product. So far he'd ruled it out as a material for cooking pots, as it absorbed far too much energy to be used for cooking. It also was the most uncomfortable surface he'd ever laid down on despite it essentially being made of 'clouds', so it was useless as a mattress.

But it did have potential – besides as a defensive wall – for other building materials. Because it absorbed so much heat and energy, a building made from Heavenstone would be naturally cool and earthquake resistant. Yoshi looked at the brick again, checking it's structural integrity. He walked back over to his modified 'Daedelus' and fetched another brick. He was miles away from the island, wanting to try his experiments away from the source of the Heavenstone, to see how well it lasted.

He noticed the sun going down and frowned, maybe he should be getting back. With a start, he realized the brick in his hand fading away into mist. A quick glance told him the brick on the ground was likewise disappearing. Yoshi scribbled that down in his book, and sat down hard, looking at the mist.

He'd not be going back home just yet.

* * *

_**Tengoku**_

Hiroka pushed through the crowd at the entrance to the hospital, not caring who's feet she trampled. Panicked, she burst into the room where Senjii and Naruto were laying on beds.

Naruto had taken the worst of the explosion, but no one seemed to be bothering with him. Instead Tsunade and Sakura were busy putting bandages on Senjii. Her Senjii. Who was unconscious.

"What happened? Is he going to be OK?" she asked.

Tsunade didn't even look up. "Naruto's Rasengan exploded. Thank Kami that he'd managed to bleed out some of the power from it. As it is Naruto took the worst of it, but Senjii was only fifty yards away and he suffered several broken ribs and bruises about his body from the concussive blast."

Sakura finished tying off a bandage and looked up with a face showing relief. "He'll be OK Hiroka, just banged up. A few weeks and he'll be back on his feet."

Hiroka allowed herself to breathe, then glanced over at Naruto. Impossibly his bruises and cuts seemed to be healing on their own. She'd heard about that ability of his, but never seen it before. She looked longingly at Senjii, wishing he had that ability as well. But she knew Tsunade and Sakura would take care of him.

She whirled and left the hospital, ignoring the people who'd come to see what happened to 'Lord Tenshikage' after such a powerful explosion. She leapt to the rooftops once she'd made it to the streets and headed for the training ground on the other side of the city to blow off some steam.

"Foolish girl." N'uihc's stick rapped her on the head again. "Why can you not see the target? Is it not clear?"

Calamity heard the voice behind her, but had no illusions that N'uihc could be anywhere around her at this point, he had a way of throwing his voice in this training session to throw her off.

"Just because gracious N'uihc allowed your training partner to go visit his friend in the hospital, do you think you should likewise be allowed to slack off?" the old taskmaster asked sweetly.

"No Master," Calamity replied, keeping her anger out of her voice, as that would only make things worse. She ached to remove the blindfold from her eyes, and seek out the Master of Sinanju, but she knew better there too.

Taking a breath, she drew back her bow again and reached out with her spirit as N'huic was teaching her to do. She felt.. something. The trees, the field, the wind…and something inanimate and foreign. With an outtake of breath she loosed the arrow, feeling it move towards the target. Feeling it hit.

"Pathetic." N'huic rapped her on the head again. "A child from my village could have done better. Take off the blindfold and start doing your forms. I'm tired of trying to teach a tadpole to fly today. Maybe tomorrow."

Calamity heard N'huic move away and she took off the blindfold looking after him as he walked back to his tea shop. She had come to like and respect the man and loathe him at the same time. Shaking her head Calamity looked across the field to see where her arrows hit.

The target had a cluster of five arrows – she had shot seven – and they were all clustered around the center, but not quite the bullseye, of the target. With a scowl Calamity walked towards them.

* * *

Nagi sat alone in the room with Naruto and Senjii. Both were still unconscious but Tsunade said they were just sleeping now. The crowd that had been outside had dissipated. Word of Naruto's miraculous healing was spreading through the village. Everyone was just glad the Tenshikage was alive, as he'd handpicked and brought each one of them here to a new, better life.

He watched them and sighed, his mind wandering back to the dream he'd had every night for the last month. That dream, with someone screaming his name, someone on fire. Angrily he slammed his fist down onto his leg.

"Just forget it… it's just a dream," he whispered to himself.

"Sometimes dreams can be pretty horrible though." Nagi almost jumped out of his skin at Naruto's voice. The blond haired teen was sitting up rubbing his head. He glanced over at Senjii for a few seconds, then looked at Nagi, the question clear in his eyes.

"He'll be OK. Just some bones and bruises. Tsunade says a few weeks and he'll be back to normal," Nagi answered.

Naruto nodded, looking at his own skin, mostly healed now. "My own stupid fault for trying a jutsu that large so close to everyone. Next time I'll do it far away from the village."

Nagi didn't respond, not sure what to say to that. It probably WAS a good idea. Naruto's jutsu were incredibly powerful.

"So what's this dream?" Naruto asked, trying to take his mind off the guilt of hurting one of his best friends. Nagi shook his head.

"Just, something…from my past. I think," Nagi said hesitantly.

Naruto looked at him then away. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I mean, …well… I mean I've lots of things I'd rather not remember."

Nagi nodded at him and they just sat in silence for the remainder of the night, each lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

"'Lo Yoshi!" Mabry called out as their caravan topped the small hill. It had to be the crazy inventor. Who else would have a giant metallic bird-thing next to him, or have hair that crazy?

Yoshi looked up and waved at them, intently studying something on the ground. Mabry rolled his wagon closer to the inventor and peeked at what he was studying. It was a solid white brick. Yoshi was scraping at it with a knife.

"Is that Heavenstone?" Mabry asked, puzzled by Yoshi, not for the first time.

Yoshi looked up and smiled. "Yes it is! Miraculous isn't it? What an interesting stone. But it's not a stone is it? Not at all. It's a cloud. But why the sun? That's the question."

Mabry shook his head with sigh. "Once again Yoshi I have no idea what you're talking about. And when last have you bathed? I mean you reek!"

Yoshi clapped his hands with excitement and stood up, his disheveled clothes blowing in the soft breeze. "It's marvelous. See this brick? It has the same properties as Heavenstone in Tengoku. Impenetrable, impervious, heat resistant, all of those things. But something more too! This far from the island, it's also solar dependent!"

"What?" Mabry asked, totally confused.

"It relies on daylight. Yoshi has been here all week and rain or sun, doesn't matter. What matters is daylight. Once the sun sets the brick disappears! Completely! Not a sign of its presence. Until morning when it reforms in the exact same spot." Yoshi clapped his hands again. "It's marvelous!" Yoshi tilted his head suddenly and frowned. "Of course it means it's impractical as a building material this far from Tengoku. Who wants a house that disappears at night?"

Mabry smiled at him and started to agree, but stopped and stared off at the hill they were on. Yoshi had ridden here on his Daedelus, so that meant a windstream was nearby. Also they were only a few hours from the foothills and the entrance. But even that wouldn't matter if the special seal's of Jiraiya's were perfected. His eyes glazed over as the thoughts turned over in his head. He'd have to talk to the Council about it.

"Come on Yoshi, let's go home. You need food and a shower."

* * *

_**IT Division Office**_

_**A Week Later**_

_**Midnight**_

"You did well, Ino," Inoichi congratulated his daughter. She sat before him, uninjured, unbandaged, and the perfect picture of health.

"Thanks Dad," she blushed slightly, looking down to her lap. It was only here, at the heart of the IT Division, or in the special bunker Shikamaru had shown her under her family's Flower Shop, that she could truly be herself. Outside of these secured locations, she, like her father and the rest of their family, had to maintain their masks at all times.

"Did you get a chance to check my work? It was a bit rushed out there, but I'm pretty sure I got everything," she said to her father.

"Near as I could tell, when I 'bumped into him' in order to scream at him about your injuries," Inoichi chuckled, "The Uchiha believes everything in his report is the absolute truth. I double-checked your work for the brief moment of eye contact he gave me. The seams are flawless. They are integrating with his long-term memory with no faults. Give it a month's time, or even another traumatic experience or three and not even I would be able to tell that he had been memory wiped and false memories implanted."

Ino let out a sigh of relief, fearing that she had somehow missed something, or something in the Uchiha's brain would have rejected the changes she had made to his mind. Thankfully, with her father's seal of approval, it was clear that she had not and they had gotten away with it.

"Now, if you please, so I can share with the others, seeing as Shikamaru is still in hiding and isn't going to be coming out again anytime soon," Inoichi said to his apprentice, holding out his hands, "Show me what _actually_ happened in your spar with the Uchiha."

Ino nodded and took her father's hands and together they both closed their eyes and relived the experience, from her point of view this time.

* * *

_**Training Ground 7**_

They'd met just outside the IT Division employee entrance and walked together to Training Ground 7. Neither said a word the whole way. Once there, they stood across from each other and waited, still not saying a word. A crow cried out and took off from one of the nearby trees. They both vanished before even the first leaves had been shaken loose.

They had both learned their lessons in stealth and remaining hidden quite well. Unfortunately, Ino hadn't been taught by a Sannin, nor had the experience of being on the run in hostile countries before now. They both knew that and therefore Sasuke expected to find her soon and Ino expected him to find her soon, and made preparations accordingly.

Ino kept moving, not stopping for an instant, laying whatever simple traps that she could without leaving a tell tale sign that she'd been there. Unfortunately, due to the chakra signature they gave off when they were used, this excluded Exploding Tags.

Sasuke initially hid himself amongst the branches of the trees overhead, but when he saw that there would be no attack, he put himself on the defensive and started tracking Ino the moment after. He was mildly impressed with her stealth, as he could not instantly find her even after really looking, and then again with her counter-tracking skills, as he saw seven different trails she could have run through, all going in different directions with no real clue as to which one she went down. But of course this only impressed him because it gave him the impression that she wasn't a complete waste of his time.

Finally, he lost patience and just decided to search above the trails and stay in the trees. When he caught signs, subtle signs, of traps having been laid, he knew he was on the right trail and hurried himself along the path he now found himself on. When he saw no further traps, he jumped down from the trees and soon found his opponent in a sun-lit clearing, just standing there, her eyes closed. Sensing another trap, Sasuke stayed hidden in the shadows.

A twig snapped. Sasuke frowned down at the offending piece of wood.

Ino's eyes snapped open and she thought in the privacy of her mind, _'Boys, I hope you're ready for this. Because there's no turning back now!_' She pulled out a kunai and held it before her, and something more that she hid behind her body.

Seeing that his cover was blown, Sasuke casually stepped into the clearing like it had been his intention all along. "Not much of a chase. I was hoping for a little bit more sport, Ino," he said to her. "At least make the fight interesting."

"I'll do my best, Uchiha," Ino remarked. She then shifted her left foot subtly, triggering the trap she'd set up before Sasuke had even started tracking her. There was the sound of a rope being cut and movement out of the corner of his eye saved Sasuke's life as an impossibly large boulder came crashing down from the trees behind him. He dodged by leaping forward and only after he'd gotten to his feet did he feel the trip wire he'd crossed and it was only thanks to his heightened reflexes that he managed to see the giant log come swinging down at him from clear across the clearing.

It was _because_ he saw it coming that he was even more on guard, and a good thing too, as he saw that impossibly huge boulder that had nearly crushed him, was now rolling straight at him. The proverbial 'rock and a hard place' situation. He made to dodge, but Ino had thrown something at him, and he could see, even with non-enhanced eyes, that the ground on the only other direction he could go had been recently disturbed. Probably with a pitfall or some other basic trap.

Drawing his sword, he deflected the kunai Ino had thrown at him, only to realize at the last possible second that he probably shouldn't have done that. There was ninja wire tied to the back of the kunai, and when he'd deflected it, it allowed Ino to wrap it around his katana like a bolo and then with greater strength than he'd expected, his weapon was ripped from his hands. That was fine. He had others.

Moments from impact with either the boulder or the log, he began to charge his _Chidori_, the distinctive thousand bird scream echoing off the trees. The boulder suddenly _leaped up_, just as he'd been preparing to destroy it to open that path. Unfortunately, that stunned him enough that he no longer had time to make good his escape from the log. On top of that, the boulder was now going to come down on top of his head.

The log exploded in flames, as Sasuke switched signature techniques in mere moments and the force of that explosion was easily enough to knock the boulder off course. Amidst the fiery debris, Sasuke soon found himself having to dodge all manner of projectiles, and not just kunai, but shuriken, spikes, throwing knives and even a bunch of high-speed ball bearings. Without his sword, it was more difficult, and the flaming splinters didn't help much, but a couple of quick shunshins and he was clear of the range of fire and now behind Ino... except she was behind him? How...?

"Sasuke," she called and he turned, only to get a face full of a bag that released some kind of black cloud of some kind of poison. He coughed and quickly retreated. Orochimaru and Kabuto had been working on his poison immunity, and thankfully they had also taught him the few anti-poison chakra techniques. Even while he attempted to clear his system right then and there, Ino was informing him of what he was just discovering for himself.

"That won't work," she said.

"What did you...?" he started to ask, suddenly overcome with a weakness he was unfamiliar with. His vision was starting to become unfocused and his eyes itched and his nose and throat burned.

"The Death Blossom is an overdramatic name for the flower Konoha uses in all it's poisons," Ino informed him, not moving from her spot. "Except that it needs to be mixed with several other herbs, chemicals, and poisons in order to actually be able to kill anyone. The pollen, however, can cause paralysis if either ingested, inhaled, or allowed anywhere near the eyes or mouth."

"You, you, you..."

"Because it is just the pollen, however, the body doesn't react like it's been poisoned," she interrupted. "No, it responds with a severe and sudden allergy reaction. Paralysis takes a few minutes, since it has to work its way through your system. Of course a diluted version will just cause the allergic reaction. But a concentrated dose, like the one I just gave you, well..."

His eyes flashed red and reverted back to their basic black before the Sharingan even formed. It happened twice more before Ino finally explained what was happening.

"Your chakra control and even your chakra are going to be very erratic for the next three minutes. You can still use it, but it takes almost twice the effort that it once did. You have about... eight minutes now, before the paralysis kicks in full time and you're lying on the forest floor. I wouldn't recommend trying to burn through it faster though, not unless you have some kind of fetish for being completely helpless and near-death experiences."

The Sharingan finally formed and Sasuke charged ahead. Ino raised her kunai in defense, and twitched her right foot this time.

Sasuke's body leapt back and to his right almost before he knew why, but the reason became obvious when all the leaves and weeds at Ino's feet came alive and formed a protective cocoon around her, the leaves swirling and cutting at anything around her while the weeds grew to vines and covered every available space in the tangle of trees. They were all filled with Ino's chakra and made the perfect camouflage for her.

Sasuke didn't hesitate in shooting out a fireball, not even bothering with announcing it, flashing through the hand seals so fast it looked like he didn't even do them. The greenery was all burned away, and even some of the trees around them caught on fire. But when it all cleared away, Ino was nowhere in sight.

Sweating now, Sasuke felt the pressure to win like never before. Some of the things Orochimaru and Kabuto put him through were downright horrific, but they never did anything that would inflict permanent damage. Nor had they used this particular type of poison before. Then again, like Ino said, this wasn't strictly speaking _poison_, but just an allergic reaction to some pollen. No wonder the anti-poison chakra technique had failed. His chakra was barely responding at all. Heck, that fireball should have been enough to set the whole area ablaze, but as it was some of the fires were already starting to die out.

He saw movement.

He moved to recover his sword and dove towards it as fast as he could, using his chakra to boost his speed as much as he could. He hadn't been this slow since he was at the Academy! Once he had his weapon back, he started to hunt her down. "She'd better have an antidote," the Uchiha growled under his breath.

He stopped when she suddenly appeared before him. And she was already in a ready stance, her chakra primed and had just finished the last seal for her mind transfer jutsu. Simple enough to evade, made easier as his Sharingan allowed him to see the chakra of the technique as it moved through the air and... wait? What was happening?

"Ahargh-gah!" Sasuke's whole body had locked up and he couldn't move at all. The paralysis? Already? Impossible!

"What... is... this...?" he grated out through clenched teeth.

Moments into the paralysis, two giant hands came from either side of him through the shadowed foliage and grabbed him tight. Tilting his head as far back as he could, with his Sharingan still active, he saw two familiar chakra signatures. Shikamaru and Choji. Of course. It all made sense now. They had him trapped with their ridiculous Ino-Shika-Cho Combination. If he hadn't been infected with that Death Blossom pollen, he wouldn't have even been caught.

Thinking back on it now, he realized right from the beginning he'd been facing the entire Team Ten the whole time. The boulder that had nearly crushed him twice, Choji. The one throwing things from the shadows and getting him turned around and that now had him "paralyzed", Shikamaru. And all the while distracting him from the primary threat. He'd underestimated Ino. It wouldn't happen again.

Before he could do anything about that however, he felt something, like a physical hit but different. And suddenly he wasn't in control of anything anymore. Ino was in his mind!

"_What do you hope to accomplish with this? You're still working with that traitor, Shikamaru, I saw him. I won't forget, and then you'll be the newest resident of the IT Division_!" he thought-said to her.

"Traitor?" his own voice and mouth said with derision, "That's rich, coming from you, Sasuke-_kun_. As for the rest, well, yes, actually you will forget. But don't worry, you'll still win our little match. Even have memories of using that new jutsu of yours successfully. Chidori senbon, quite clever. Now let's see what else we can gleam from your mind before we conclude our sparring match..."

* * *

_**Tengoku**_

Mabry lurched in his seat as the wagons fell with a thump into the firm clouds at the entrance to Tengoku. He didn't like coming up the wind tunnel in the wagons. A few of the less sturdy ones would undoubtedly break their axles in the landing. Once again he swore he'd talk to Jiraiya about that. There had to be a way to use the 'Teleportation' bands that they were making to also move large items. He moved out of the way as more wagons came up the tunnel.

Finally, as the last one came up, he saw the Tendou fly up the wind tunnel, each landing perfectly. He motioned them over.

"You did an excellent job on this trip. I'll be sure to let Tenchi know. Your mission is officially over, so go get some rest."

The four Tendou looked at each other and grinned. They whooped and raced off into the town. Mabry smiled. He imagined it was quite an accomplishment, successfully completing your first mission.

He glanced back at the wagons rolling into the village. Only two had broken wheels from the landing. The cloud bank was soft yet firm enough to snap weaker wheels. But they were all glad to be home. He'd brought a few new faces, but he didn't think Naruto would mind.

* * *

Nagi watched the wagons roll past him. His mind was far off, lingering on the dreams that haunted his sleep. He was not paying attention to the people in the wagons, but a gasp from one of them startled him out of his reverie.

"Oh my w..! My Lord?" A very old woman that Nagi did not recognize was staring at him slack-jawed, her hand partially covering her mouth. Her eyes showed knowledge, and… fear?

"No," she went on. "It cannot be!"

Nagi held up his hands. "I'm sorry ma'am. You have me mistaken for someone else."

The woman dropped her hands and regained her composure. She climbed down from the wagon she was on and shuffled slowly over to Nagi. She looked him in his eyes intently, causing Nagi to blush out of embarrassment. She grabbed his palm and glanced at it though no more than a second.

"You are who you are my lord." She fell to her knees. "I failed your mother, and your father, but finally I may find peace." She held out something to a shocked Nagi. It was a small curved dagger that seemed oddly familiar to him. She tilted her head back. "You have the right of Ca'Suane. Please take my life as penance for my failures."

Nagi stared at her, then the knife, then back to her.

"What?"

* * *

Senjii swung his legs off the bed , groaning and rubbing his chest. He yawned and looked over at the next bed. Naruto was gone, probably out training again. His body ached, covered in bruises and small cuts. He winced, feeling the soreness where a few ribs were clearly cracked. Tsunade had made it exceedingly clear that he was not to leave the hospital until she gave permission.

So of course he was sneaking out right now. He grinned recklessly and reached for his swords, ignoring the pain and discomfort. Senjii considered himself a real swordsman, and would go nowhere without his swords. Especially not after he almost died earning them in the sands of Wind Country.

His fingers touched the hilt and he felt an electric jolt race up his arm, into his spine and coursing through his whole body. Senjii screamed silently, no sound escaping his throat as his back arched and he fell convulsing onto the bed. Just as quickly as it happened, it was over.

Senjii lay there for a few minutes, fighting to regain his composure. He blinked, feeling the dryness of his eyes. _Thank Kami I didn't relieve myself right here!_

He sat up again and looked at his swords. They weren't booby-trapped. He'd have known. And who'd want to put a trap on his swords? He reached out hesitantly again and paused halfway. He looked down at his arm, the arm that a few minutes ago was covered in bruises and cuts.

The skin was near flawless.

He looked at his other arm and that one was healed as well. Puzzled Senjii felt his ribs, still a little soreness, but it didn't have the distinctive pinch of cracked ribs. _So…the swords..healed me?_

Senjii stared at the 'cursed' weapons for a minute, then snatched them in his hands quickly. This time he felt nothing, not even a tingle. With a grin and a short laugh he burst through the hospital window and headed for the training ground. He'd keep the swords healing ability quiet, maybe try to figure out how it worked, or at least the limits of it. But for right now, it just meant he could train.

* * *

Naruto walked past the wagons as they rolled in. He waved to various merchants as they passed him. He was glad they all seemed to be back safely.

"Naruto!"

He turned to see who was calling him and stood rooted in place, shock written on his face.

"Naruto!" Ayame and Teuchi were walking over to him. The old man and his daughter from Naruto's favorite (and only) Ramen stand in Konoha. He remembered all the years they were the only ones aside from the Hokage that showed him a smile. He grinned at seeing them, confused as to how they came to be there.

They approached him and Teuchi put out his hand for a handshake. Naruto took it in disbelief that they were actually there. Ayame smiled at him warmly.

"What are you guys doing here? How did you get here?" Naruto asked.

"We petitioned Mabry to let us come." Ayame answered. "Father and I left Konoha when you rescued Iruka. We headed as far East as we could, looking for somewhere out of the reach of Danzo. A friend of father's recommended we go to that valley. We were expecting Jiraiya but Mabry allowed us to come to Tengoku, on the condition that you have to approve of us."

Teuchi made a grunt. "A tough man that Mabry. If you don't approve of us staying here he said he'll toss us off the side of the island. Something about if we were Danzo's spies or something."

Naruto shook his head. "No! Of course you can stay!" He grinned, opening his arms wide. "Welcome to my new home, and yours!"

Teuchi and Ayame smiled back. "Now we just need to find a place to open our stand and to live. Mabry said we should find someone called Tenchi or even Jiraiya. They would help us with allocating a space."

Naruto frowned and shook his head. "No no. I know exactly where you can set up shop. Follow me!" He walked back towards the tower, his two friends from Konoha in tow. They passed all the shops, and at the very center of town was a large empty building. Across the street was a flag with a wolf on it in a building of similar but grander size. Across the fountain at the center of the town was the Academy, and on the other side Mabry's orphanage.

"Right here." Naruto said matter-of-factly. This building is yours now. It has two floors, and any construction you need…" He made a quick sign and five clones popped into existence. "My clones will help you renovate!"

Teuchi studied the building intently. "This is too much Naruto. It's too grand for a simple noodle stand."

"Nonsense!" Naruto smiled broadly. "You're my friends. This is yours. I'll let the council know."

Ayame touched her father's arm and wiped a tear from her eyes. It had been a hard journey for them. Abuse in Konoha before they abandoned their life there. The long trek across the world. Finally coming to the whispered Tengoku where Naruto was said to rule, hoping that he'd take them in. And now…now they had a new home. Silently she hugged Naruto–who smiled and blushed awkwardly.

"Thank you, our Tenshikage." Ayame said quietly.

"Just Naruto," he replied, his blush reaching his hair.

* * *

"Get up!" Nagi said quietly and urgently. "I'm not going to …kill… you." He practically begged the old woman to get up. He glanced at the knife she'd handed him like it was a snake in his hand. Her companions had come over and made no attempt to interfere. The two men were large, and dark skinned. Like her. Like Nagi.

She stood shakily and stared at him with strong eyes. "We will talk."

Nagi nodded in disbelief and pointed down the street to the white tower. "This way."

* * *

_**Outside of Konoha**_

Shikamaru breathed in deep. He squeezed his eyes shut and snapped them open. His eyes blacker than the shadow he was sitting in. It had taken a long time for him to figure out the way. But now he could see it. See the shadow clearly. He understood now, the shadow had to be part of him. It wasn't a thing to be manipulated. It was he who had to change. His shadow sat in front of him, a solid thing. It looked right back at him, mirroring his every movement.

He opened his arms wide and beckoned. The shadow became less solid. Tendrils of it reached out and leaked slowly into him. Shikamaru felt every pore in his skin open, allowing the shadow in. Silently, slowly.

After a few minutes the jutsu was complete. He breathed again, feeling it inside him.

"Time to dance with the Jak O'shadows…" he whispered to himself. He closed his eyes again and melted into the darkness, his body disappearing like smoke.

* * *

Shino stood on the roof of the cave staring down at the ground. Well, where he assumed the ground was. It was so dark in the cave and so far below him that he couldn't even see it. He kept his concentration though. He'd been standing on the roof for so long that he'd lost track of time. If he had to guess though he'd think it was a couple hours.

The point of this exercise was to get his chakra control to the point where it was second nature. He needed to embrace the Queen's guidance.

"I see you are still there." Her voice in his head was sweet, and overpowering. His kikai bugs buzzed in excitement.

"Yes my Queen," he thought back.

"Good. I am sending some drones. You will dispatch them, without moving from that spot."

Shino heard the sound of legs running along the cave walls. Five? Maybe ten drones? He held his hands in front of him. The Queen did not allow him to use human weapons.

The skittering got closer.

* * *

The wolves glided through the long grass. This pack was strong, ten full grown males and females. Their padded feet brushed the grass, their ears peeled back against the wind. A new cub called to them. The voice echoing softly in their minds, calling to them. But different than normal. They raced to it just as much out of curiosity as out of brotherhood.

Deep in their genetic memory, they remembered this type of wolf. Never had they seen one before. There. They picked up his scent. Turning with one mind they moved like ghosts. The wolf-cub was on a hunt, they could pick up the scent of a hated large-cat. Wolves had their own name for everything.

After a minute of running they arrived at a clearing to see the new wolf-cub circling the large-cat. The cat was bigger than the cub by two length. Fangs bared, the cat sprang. The cub shifted its footing and caught the neck of the cat with a swipe of its paw, ripping it's throat out.

The wolves howled their appreciation of the kill. Off to the side was a large dog, watching the kill as well. The pack sent out a greeting to their distant cousin, and was pleased that the dog too was with the cub. Their pack would grow stronger.

The leader reached out to the cub and welcomed him. Long had it been since a two-legged was also a wolf. The pack howled into the sky in jubilation.

Kiba and Akamaru joined them.

* * *

_**One Mile From Tengoku**_

Jiraiya, Kakashi and Tenchi stood there, watching Naruto across the field. With a nod to them he formed two clones and immediately began forming a Rasengan. This one was a normal size, and his clones began moving their hands around the ball of chakra. After a few seconds the ball changed, it's high pitched whine sounding clear in the field. Small shuriken-like blades soon formed from the visible chakra.

Kakashi nodded and made a clone of his own. His clone formed a Rasengan as well. Naruto's Rasengan whined louder, shone brighter. But they needed to test it.

Naruto and Kakashi raced towards each other.

There should have been a sound. A cataclysmic boom. But instead there was nothing. All noise disappeared. There was a white light that just grew.

Jiraiya, the real Kakashi and Tenchi did not look away though.

The Kakashi clone's Rasengan disintegrated when it hit Naruto's Wind Element Rasengan. After a few seconds, the Rasengan dissipated. Naruto stood up and dusted off his clothes. He smiled across at the older men and waved.

"That went well!"

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_

I never thought I'd be one of those writers who felt the need to have a note with every chapter. but with the huge time difference between chapters I am compelled to apologise profusely. Time gets away from you, work and real life takes over. So i humbly beg forgiveness *bows deeply*. Myself and Joshua are already working on the next chapter so *fingers crossed* hopefully it won't be such a HUGE gap between.

Also submissions are open for Omakes! Let's see how creative you guys can be. It can be funny, silly, serious. Your discretion.

Until next time...excelsior.

OMAKE TIME! By Joshua the Evil Guy

"**Hound the Dog" **

Senjii was walking along the marketplace one morning, on his way to the training grounds, when he saw an unusual sight. A bunch of boys playing with a dog, only they were playing the game so that no matter which way the dog turned, one of them was there to block him. They were all having a great time, even the dog.

"Hmm..." he had an idea!

A few minutes later at the training ground saw Senjii working with channeling his chakra into his blades to evoke a very specific response from them. He wasn't sure it would work, but with these blades it might just be possible.

That evening, just before sunset, Senjii was practicing his new move;

He was sparring with Tenchi, and if everyone watching didn't know better, they would think that Senjii's swords were possessed with the way they moved and flashed about. With every single movement, every strike, every block, every attack and every defense, Senjii's twin nodachi were always right beside Tenchi's own attacks, never allowing the more experienced swordsman time to mount a proper defense or attack. It was much like the children with the dog, where Senjii's blades blocked every avenue of Tenchi's from moving, thus trapping him. From the outside, it looked like a high-speed technique, making it, briefly, look like Senjii was holding hundreds of swords at once, some even piercing after-images of Tenchi. The only thing anyone could find fault with the technique was its name.

* * *

"**Fuzor Mode" **

Senjii was practicing with swords one afternoon when he happened to see Jiraiya walking some of the Academy students through climbing the trees, ninja style, with chakra sticking their feet to the sides of trees.

"Hmm..." he wondered and began to channel his own chakra into the blades.

They jumped in his hands, and not like they usually did when he let them fly off on their own. He focused just his chi, and they lit up with power, like always, but they didn't jump this time.

"Hmm..."

This time, he channeled his chakra, but he put the spirit half into Mo Ye, and he put the physical half into Gan Jiang. They jumped again, but actually seemed to repel one another surprisingly. He tried again, focusing on mixing his chakra in his body first, and then channeling it into both his swords equally. He was really glad that Tenchi and Jiraiya had taught him how to... WHOA!

Both Cursed Swords lit up with the blue glow of chakra and then brought his hands together as a side-effect of their hilts joining at the pommels! Both blades of the new dual-katana remained glowing a soft luminescent blue, visible even in the daylight!

"Wow! This is... This is... I don't know what this is, but it is amazing!" Senjii held the new weapon in his hands, still channeling chakra, in awe of it.

"I'm going to call this... _Fuzor Mode_!" he shouted, holding it up high. He then discovered he had to learn a whole new style to go with Fuzor Mode.


	26. Chapter 26 : Blood and Sand

**Blood and Sand  
**

_**Tengoku**_

Naruto, Nagi and Senjji stared at the old woman incredulously. Mabry and Jiraiya, the only council elders in the room, just nodded as if she had confirmed something for them. The light thrown by the candles illuminating the room seemed to dance, adding to the surrealism of the moment.

"A prince?" Nagi repeated quietly. "That's impossible."

Senjii eyed the two large men flanking the old woman. They hadn't so much as uttered a single word, nor budged an inch when she spoke. If he didn't know better he'd swear they were statues. His hands flexed, ready to grip his swords in an instant. There was an air of extreme competence about them. They were clearly her bodyguards.

"Yes my lord. You are the crown prince Nagiri, of the Kingdom of Nubia," she repeated.

"I've never heard of Nubia." Senjii interjected. Tsunade's eyes narrowed taking Senjii's body. The others in the room – being men - probably assumed he was just being strong and walking around after being seriously injured just yesterday. She, however, had some questions for the young warrior about what was clearly a miraculous recovery.

Mabry shifted slightly. "Nubia was its name twenty years ago. It was a land rich in gold and jewels. But because of that, people fought each other for every piece of land. Invasions, wars and murders were commonplace. The ruler there quelled it all brutally, bathing the land in bodies and blood. So, it's now known to everyone as the Land of Blood."

Nagi's eyes shifted from Mabry to the old lady who nodded.

"Yes. Lord _Shisho_ has been brutal in his putting down of any rebellions or invasions. But he himself is not the rightful ruler of Nubia. Your story, young Nagiri, began nineteen years ago in the palace of KingBayajida. The Land of Nubia was once a secure land. Yes there was gold, and jewels, but the King managed the land well, and all were content and taken care of. But the King had a cousin, Shisho, who wanted power. He plotted and schemed. The day of your birth young prince, there was a massive feast and the palace doors were open to all to pay respects to the new heir. Shisho saw his opening, and struck. His men were in disguise, mingled in with the ordinary citizens. It was a slaughter."

"The Royal bloodline have always been masters of the way of shadows, but Shisho, bastard son of a royal and a foreigner, was a master of the way of fire. What his men did not destroy, he burned. The first born daughter of the King, your older sister, was amongst the first to die. She was a truly gifted shadow dancer. I, a maid in your mother's employ, saw her death with my own eyes as I was knocked cold by a falling beam."

"Beyond that we know very little. Shisho announced his rule, and the complete annihilation of your family was assumed. Shisho, for all his mastery of fire, was cold. Cold as death as he lay claim to the land. His spirit infused the people and they soon turned on each other. The Land of Blood is rightly named. Nubia is no more."

Nagi stared at the old woman, his eyes unblinking. His mind shut down, not knowing how to process any of what he heard. He went over it in his mind, no one daring to break the silence. Even Naruto stayed quiet, watching his friend.

"But the, how do you...I mean why do you think I am this prince?" he asked hesitantly.

She frowned at him, annoyed. "Think you I would not recognize the face of my true king and queen in their grown son?" She made a vexed sound. "If you require proof, I changed your bare behind and I know of the birthmark on your left cheek shaped like a dove."

Nagi blushed while Naruto and Senjii tried unsuccessfully to suppress their snickers. He looked up at his friends, and around the room. His head spinning, he lurched out of his chair and out the door, needing air.

As Naruto and Senjii went after Nagi, Mabry and Jiriya watched them intently. Jiraiya looked back across at the old lady.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Everyone calls me Granny Sara," she replied curtly.

"OK Granny Sara, your bodyguards there. Would you mind explaining them? I don't see an ex-maid needing, nor being able to have, two men like this."

Granny Sara laughed, "My boys here? You'd begrudge a little old lady some protection in a world such as we live in?"

Mabry smiled. "I know who you are Granny. There was a reason I allowed you and your 'boys' to come to Tengoku. We could use someone with your unique perspective of the world. And I must say, your boys look pretty handy too."

She cackled again. "I was wondering what game you were playing at Milford Mabry. A man as traveled as you would hardly mistake me for anyone else. Young Jiraiya here suspects, but you would know."

Jiraiya cocked his head, looking at Mabry, waiting for an explanation.

"Since we've been keeping track of history, centuries of it, there has been a Granny Sara working for one royal family or the other. It's hard to miss stories of her really."

Jiraiya looked at the old woman anew. "I HAVE heard stories of such a person. How can this be?"

"My secrets are my own young Jiraiya. Smarter men than you have tried to figure me out. I have lived to see them return to dust." She stood up shakily. "I have served countless families through the ages. This age saw me in the Land of Nubia, serving a very worthy family. They treated me as a family member, not as an immortal witch to be used or deferred to. I loved the queen like a daughter. Their death has blanketed me in sadness for these last twenty years."

She looked out to where Nagi had left.

"Perhaps the time is coming when their spirits will find peace, and mine as well."

* * *

Naruto, Nagi and Senjii just stood on the balcony of the highest floor of the White Tower, staring out into the sky. The sun was setting, and its orange and red hues caught the facets on Guerrera's mysterious beacon stone, perched higher still atop the tower. A prism of lights danced down on the sides of the tower, making it come alive in different colors. A soft cool evening breeze blew at them, ruffling their hair. Even Nagi's shoulder length dreadlocks shifted weightlessly.

"My first memory was in a slavers pit. I was sold to a farmer in the unknown lands. An investment he claimed. I don't remember him much, other than he was cruel to all. A man named Clarke, another slave, took me and ran away one day. He was dark, like me. Not all the slaves were dark. I remember being dressed up that day, being bathed. And led up to the main house. The smell. The smell is what I remember most. Some sort of perfume they put on me. I must have been six by then? Maybe seven? Clarke burst into the house and killed the owner. He took me and we ran. For a decade we ran. Clarke taught me what he knew of Capoeira. He didn't speak much. But we were a family he and I. When he died, I was a leaf in the wind."

Nagi turned to Naruto. "You guys changed that. Changed me. You're my best friends, and the only family I have now. This," he pointed out to Tengoku, "is my home now."

He sighed and leaned against the railing. "I didn't know my parents. I dream about them I think. That dream I have, the fire, the fall. I think it's real."

Senjii nodded and put his hand on Nagi's shoulder.

"I...I don't want to be a Prince. Or rule a Kingdom." His eyes grew steely, a glint shining in them. "But this Lord Shisho killed my mother, my father, my sister."

Naruto and Senjii stood silently their muscles tensing. Nagi stood straight as an arrow. His voice like iron as he spoke.

"I will avenge them."

The wind whistled, curving its way around them, seemingly embracing the moment.

Naruto struggled internally with what he was about to say. They'd so far made Tengoku a place of justice. Not throwing their weight around against the weak. Not killing mindlessly. Would this push them in a direction they were not supposed to go?

What was the difference between justice and vengeance?

"We will help," said Naruto quietly.

* * *

Tenchi looked down at the new armbands Guerrera had constructed according to Jiraiya's specifications. They were beautifully made, an intricate system of seals etched into soft silver. They'd tried again and again, and always the wearer, once activating the seals on the armband with an injection of chakra and a drop of blood would be summoned to the great seal drawn into the courtyard of the White Tower. It would be invaluable to them on all future excursions off the island. Naruto's clones had mapped out every river leading off the Island, but they'd still only found the one leading into it, and that was very close by. Any missions far away would mean that much longer before they could return.

These would solve that problem.

He looked up at Guerrera. "Excellent work my friend."

Guerrera nodded. "Si, these came out acceptable." He glanced up at the sunset.

"Perhaps tomorrow we can talk to Yoshi about these vanishing bricks of his."

Tenchi smiled. "That mad hatter is incredible. Mabry's idea of what to do with those bricks is also a bit crazy though."

Guerrera laughed, his deep bass resonating in the quiet evening. "Si. Well, after all a trading village that can vanish as the sun sets is something out of a legend. It will add to the mystique of Tengoku for sure."

"Indeed my friend."

* * *

_**Sunagakure**_

Gaara looked out over the balcony of his palace at the citizens going about their everyday business. He could see a little girl laughing as she pointed into dress shops with her mother. He saw a group of boys playing football and he – for a moment – flashed back to his own childhood memories. He ruthlessly suppressed them though, not wanting to spiral down that path. Sleep still eluded him, even though the laughter in his head had been more subdued recently. Since the battle with Naruto that time, he'd been better able to control the One-Tail inside him. People were slowly realizing he was not a danger to them. But there was still much doubt.

Word of the war between Iwagakure and Konahagakure was still on the tip of everyone's tongues. The people of Sunagakure were a hard people. Long accustom to living in a harsh world. Every day was a fight for survival in the hot sands. Even so, Gaara did not want war to come to Suna.

He did not think 'Emperor' Danzo would strike anytime soon. His own spies told him Danzo was recovering still from the Iwa battle. And even with the inclusion of the Iwa forces into his own, he was very busy joining those villages properly, and solidifying his base of operations. Gaara's advisers told him it would be a few years before Danzo was a real threat. And still there was the fact that one would be either a fool, or need to have unlimited resources to even attempt an attack on the ninja of Suna in their native environment when they had the advantage, and whose Kazekage could control the very ground they strode upon to get close enough to attack in the first place. But Gaara had his doubts it would be that long. For now though, he was happy his people were living in relative peace.

The treasure Naruto had found, the part Suna had kept for itself, was a sorely needed windfall. They'd been able to purchase better water filtration systems, and well digging equipment. New cavernous farms were being built into the surrounding cliff sides. Suna grew a lot of its own food, but still imported too much for Gaara's comfort. He wanted the entire village to be self-sufficient. If war did come, they'd not have to worry about supplies. They could retreat into their village and lock down, hopefully outlasting any siege.

An explosion to the North drew his attention away from his thoughts. A wry smile cracked his otherwise stoic face. The bowl-haired teacher and his students were training harder than anyone had a right to in the desert heat. Especially for people who were unaccustomed to said heat. Gaara held out his hand and used his _Daisan no Me _jutsu. This one was the size of a ping pong ball. He sent it soaring across towards where the sound was coming from. He'd been watching them with some curiosity since they'd begun their training, and he was astonished at their drive, and camaraderie.

Through his "eye" he saw the younger scary fashion sense one moving through a series of hard punches and blocks so fast he had a difficult time keeping up. From what he had observed from his own fight with Lee, he had no chakra skills to speak of. But when he removed his weights or opened his "gates" his speed and strength were beyond comparison. It was a clever compensation for what would otherwise be a crippling weakness in a ninja. For now, Lee's weights were on still and his hand movements were a blur. Gaara could not help but be impressed.

Likewise for the girl Hinata. Her movements weren't as sharp or hard as Lee's were. Hers were, elegant almost. She flowed from hit to hit, blocking Lee's attacks while seeming to move at half his speed. Gaara couldn't figure out the flow. It was like Lee was punching water, but the water just flowed around his punches and tried to strike back. It was a beautiful dance.

But that wasn't what had created the thunderous noise that had drawn his attention. Maito Gai was sparring with Neji, and if he didn't know better, Gaara would swear he was trying to kill him. Neji was spinning in his ultimate defense, while Gai punched, and kicked. Gaara saw a side kick that connected with a boom, and literally shifted Neji's defensive circle five feet to the left, kicking up dirt and stone as he moved. To his credit Neji kept his circle going.

Gaara withdrew his "eye", having seen enough for today. The intense training of the Konoha-nin was inspiring his own ninja to step up their own pursuits. His siblings were off practicing as well. Gaara himself had never felt the need to train. His perfect defense had always protected him against every attack. He was a pure chakra user, not ever bothering with Taijutsu of any kind. But... he had to admit it was something he should consider.

His best comparison was Naruto. Naruto was more powerful than he was. Gaara could admit that. Naruto didn't have Gaara's control necessarily, but in raw power, the Nine Tails beats the One Tail any day. But even Naruto used other skills besides chakra attacks. He'd heard many stories of Naruto over the past year, and even from seeing him in person, he knew that his friend was growing stronger and stronger.

It was still weird for Gaara to think he had an actual friend. But it fit, the two of them, bound together by the creatures within them.

"We have a delivery by hawk my Kazekage." Baki approached from across the room holding a small package.

"From whom?" Gaara asked without even turning around.

"From Jiraiya. Seems they've come up with a seal object for us to communicate with Tengoku." He pulled out a small scroll and a perfectly round stone with engravings all around it. "These are instructions on how to use it. It seems easy enough. Blood triggered jutsu, and a simple message gets sent immediately to the holder of the other stone. I assume that's Jiraiya. The scroll says this is a prototype. Only we and Wave have been sent these."

Gaara looked over at the rock curiously, then back out the window.

"What troubles you my Lord?" Gaara glanced at him, not realizing he'd shown his thoughts on his face.

"I have been considering learning more techniques," he said thoughtfully, still picturing the training Konoha-nin.

Baki nodded. "It does seem like everyone is training harder and harder. I would offer to teach you myself, but my expertise is in air attacks. I have no skill in sand. There is one though, who may be willing."

Gaara looked up curiously "May be?"

Baki laughed. "The old fool prefers to spend his days fishing with his sister. But as far as sand users go, Ebizo was always the master. In his day, he could control sand storms and shift the ground itself. Even though he did prefer using his mind than his skills."

Gaara sighed in recognition. "Ahh. Ebizo. And his sister Chiyo. Hmm." He looked off towards the sound of another boom coming from the Konoha-nin's training area.

"I will go to him."

* * *

_**Wave Country**_

Asuma crested the hill and looked out towards the sea. It had been a harrowing journey, and he'd not known what to expect when he got here, but it certainly hadn't been this. The Land of Waves had once looked like a sleepy little fishing village. Not anymore. Several tall stone buildings were being erected, ringing the island. A giant warship flying the flag of the Crescent Moon Kingdom was docked just offshore. The Great Naruto Bridge was demolished, every piece of it being removed like it had never existed.

He spied a group of men on the near bank moving stones onto a barge and approached cautiously. He had removed his Konoha headband and changed his clothes before, and was grateful now. They would not likely be welcoming to a Konoha-nin right about now.

As he got nearer, Asuma realized the group was comprised of ten workers and two guards. He was now picking up snippets of their conversation.

"Takada could be in a tavern, talking to the most beautiful girl in the world. Takada loves her straw colored hair and her plump behind. Instead where is Takada? Watching men lift rocks." A tall man with spiky black hair was musing out loud.

"Shut it fool." A short bald man covered in tattoos scowled at him. "You think I want to be here either? This is the job. And goddammit to Almighty Heaven would you stop talking in third person!?"

The tall one, Asuma now knew was Takada, sighed. "Masahiro does not understand. Her rump is the plumpest in the nine kingdoms. And Takada is a rump man."

"I'll give you that; it's a nice tukkus, Takada." Masahari smirked. "I bet Mizurai is keeping her company right now."

Takada growled. "Takada would not like that very much." Asuma saw his fingers clench around something he couldn't quite make out as yet. As he cleared some more trees though he realized it was the biggest meat cleaver sword he'd ever seen. "Not much at all."

"Relax idiot." Masahiro said with a laugh. "Mizurai is teaching at our little 'school for warriors' today."

Asuma was now within sight and the men looked over at him. He sensed the spike in chakra from both Takada and Masahari.

"Takada sees no paths of conflict." Takada said quietly. "No aggressiveness. Although the way he moves indicates high probability that he is a ninja disguised as a civilian."

"Who are you and what do you want?" Masahari said. The men had stopped moving the stones and Asuma realized each was holding their pickaxes tightly.

"My name is Asuma. And I've come seeking asylum."

* * *

_**Konoha**_

Danzo sat silently behind the curtain, surrounded by darkness, the only illumination in the room that of the four candles in formation directly across from the Emperor's line of sight. All an allusion to the kings and Emperors of old.

The one he had been waiting on finally arrived, escorted in by the remainder of his elite guard. He was already training Lizard's replacement, but it would be years before he would be ready. Until then, he only had his three left and he was keeping them close.

"YOSH! Emperor-sama, you are looking most YOUTHFUL this fine day!" Maito Gai exclaimed the moment he was placed within the circle of illumination.

Danzo frowned, not that anyone could see with the precautions he had put in place, and snapped at the so-called 'Green Beast' of Konoha, "Gai! Do you understand why you are here? Why I pulled you out of Suna? Do you understand why you were replaced and your students taken from you? By one of your own students even. Do you comprehend the _truth_ behind all that?"

Gai grinned that insufferable smile of his. At least they'd kept that mini-Gai away. Danzo swore he'd never seen a more terrifying illusion than that... that... whatever it was Gai and Lee got up to with the sunset, the waves, and the... Danzo shivered, forcing the images from his mind. Again, not that anyone could see him. Thanks to the jutsus on the screen, all they saw was a dark, imposing shadowed silhouette and nothing more.

"YOSH! Indeed I do, Emperor-sama! A most YOUTHFUL decision indeed! Neji was indeed ready for such a heavy responsibility, as I could see when he arrived to relieve me of my YOUTHFUL duties, his FLAMES OF YOUTH were burning more brightly than ever before! I can only hope to do as good a job the second time around!" Gai was now openly crying, his fists covering his face.

If he was the sort, Danzo would have sweat-dropped. Instead, he growled out, "You think that I recalled you to give you a _second_ genin team to train?!"

"YOSH!" Gai just grinned, tears gone like they'd never been.

He was taking all the fun out of this. Fine then. If he thought he was here to be given more students to train, then might as well make the most out of it. Besides, the candles had had more than enough time to do their job. Danzo couldn't help but marvel at his own genius when he considered the many levels of security he was under right now.

Besides all three of his elite guard being in the room, hidden in the shadows, there were another four layers of security. The first were the candles. They were specially designed by a clan in Iwa ironically, so that the smoke from the candles disrupted all illusions, whether it be genjutsus or a transformation. Even physical transformations were, while not dispelled, identified by a clear glow coming from the skin, visible only once the transformed person left the circle of light. The next level of security was the screen. It was riddled with enough seal-work that sometimes he got a headache just looking at it. Suffice it to say, it stopped all projectiles, both physical and chakra-based, obscured whoever and whatever was behind it so they were nothing more than an indistinguishable silhouette, while on the other side they were allowed to see everything like it was noon on the top of a mountain made of crystal glass. It wasn't the Byakugan or Sharingan, but it was the next best thing for those without such advantages.

The last two layers of security were what Danzo was activating now. In the space between the candles and the curtain, there was a pressure plate. So long as Danzo applied pressure to the counter-plate, the lethal darts wouldn't turn whoever was standing on said pressure plate into a poison-filled pincushion. The last was a bolt hole directly behind and below Danzo, hidden by the very platform he sat upon. The Emperor of Earth and Fire was under no illusions about Maito Gai's abilities. The man was as fast, if not faster, and definitely stronger than Kakashi had ever been. If anyone could dodge the darts and make it past the screen, and avoid the attacks of his guards, it would be Maito Gai.

Not that Danzo truly believed the naïve jounin capable of assassination in the first place, but after Naruto's attack and subsequent escape, he wasn't taking chances anymore.

"Come forward, Maito-san. I do indeed have a new purpose for you here in Konoha. That is close enough," he said once Gai was on the pressure plate. For the moment, Danzo kept the pressure on the counter-plate. Orochimaru was saying it would be some time before the first of the new breed of soldiers would be ready. And for right now, he needed every able-body that he had. Even those of questionable use.

At least he could be certain that the man before him was Maito Gai. Outside of the candle light, he was as dark as Danzo himself was to the eyes of others. If he'd been under a transformation of any kind, he would be glowing like a wraith out of a child's scary story.

"I'm assigning you to the prison, Gai. I'm sure all those lonely prisoners there will greatly enjoy your... fires of youth..." Danzo restrained the chuckle from leaving his lips. If only the fool knew that he was actually being sent there _as_ a prisoner rather than to watch the other prisoners.

"Flames."

"What? What was that?" Danzo was confused. He was sure he'd just felt a chakra spike from the normally demure, yet overenthusiastic jounin.

"It is FLAMES OF YOUTH!" Gai exalted, and the chakra spike rose unbelievably high in an incredibly short amount of time. In less than ten seconds, Gai had just opened 7 of the 8 Gates!

The ROOT elite guard that were the first line of Danzo's defense, immediately surged forward from the shadows, using the ninja teleport to cross the short distance that much quicker. Gai had already been moving before they'd even fully materialized.

"_GEKI – KONOHA KONGORIKI SENPU_!" he shouted as he spun around in his Released Gates state. All three bodyguards were knocked back _through_ the walls and ceiling of the room, none of them having a chance against the powerful close-range taijutsu attack.

Before Danzo could so much as open his mouth to demand what the man was doing, the Green Beast got into an unfamiliar pose. Despite the sight-augmentation of the sealed screen, all Danzo could see of it was that Gai had put his palm facing outward before his face and brought his other fist around in front of it. If not for the shadows and obscuring haze of chakra, Danzo was certain that he would see Gai's skin was a burning red. With no more warning than Gai forming a half of a Tiger seal with his palmed hand, the room was suddenly filled with a paralyzing air pressure wave that knock Danzo off his pedestal, but also kept all the poisoned darts from actually hitting as well as keeping the trapdoor to his escape shut even as Gai punched through the protective screen.

"_HIRUDORA_!" Gai shouted the name of his technique, and the last thing Danzo saw before he dematerialized, was the image of a giant tiger's face coming right at him to devour him whole.

Danzo rematerialized right behind Gai and wasted no time in putting a Chidori through the green beast's back... only to discover at the last possible moment that he'd instead put it through the corpse of a man he'd never seen before!

He let the limp body of the would be assassin fall to the ground, blood pooling at his feet. He swore mightily, having wasted one of his precious eyes. The door flew open and a small swarm of guards entered at full alert.

"Take this garbage away." He moved back to his desk. He didn't know how this assassin had used Gai's techniques. But no matter. The jounin had not returned from Sunagakure. Either he was involved in the assassination attempt, or he was dead. Regardless of which, Danzo ordered Maito Gai be put in the Bingo Book as an A-Rank criminal. The crime, high-treason and attempted assassination of the Emperor of Fire and Earth.

* * *

_**Tengoku**_

"This is a most excellent training exercise." N'uihc chimed in happily as he got up and picked up an empty backpack. He shuffled over to his tea case and began selecting very specific ones for his journey.

"No, no, a thousand times no!" Nagi said frantically. "This isn't training. I'm going to avenge my parents' death. I'm going to kill this man. It's a very big deal."

N'uihc nodded. "Indeed it is. A student of mine is going out on his first task–even though it is a childishly simple one–since beginning his training with the Master of Sinanju. I must ensure that you do not embarrass me too greatly." He glanced at Nagi pitifully. "As difficult as that may be however."

Nagi gave it up and looked hopelessly to Calamity. She just smirked at him, having told him this would not end well. N'uihc clucked his tongue in annoyance. "You young ones are just sitting there dawdling. When there is a task to be done, it's best to be about it earliest. I expect you ready in one hour to leave."

"Uhmm, N'uihc. It's not just us going." Calamity chimed in. "Both boys and girls teams are going."

"Cha!" N'uihc exclaimed. "Am I to be a babysitter then in my dying years?" He kept placing things neatly into his pack.

"But that means too that Lord Naruto will also be going?" he inquired.

"Yes Master." Nagi replied.

"Ah! Then the chance for N'uihc's embarrassment is now greater! If Lord Tenshikage sees you performing poorly in the battlefield this will be impossible to hide! N'uihc will be shamed forever!" he looked at the both of them with steely eyes, waiting for a response.

"We will not shame you Master," both Nagi and Calamity said in unison.

N'uihc sighed and shrugged. "Alas, poor N'uihc's fate and honor is now in the hands of an earthworm and a woman. Which is worse?!" He resumed packing. "One hour!"

* * *

Sakura and Hiroka stood packed and ready, waiting just inside the White Tower. Sakura adjusted her new arm band with the symbol for Tengoku on it. These were the new bands that allowed them to be summoned back home. She glanced over at her friend and teammate Hiroka. The two of them had been training together as much as possible since Calamity had been tied up with N'uihc. But on evenings they all got together to hang out and talk about their day. They'd become her best friends and confidantes. So she knew something was bothering Hiroka.

"What's on your mind?" she asked.

Hiroka adjusted her band as well, and touched her hair. A sign Sakura knew that she was thinking.

"This is a chance for me to spend some time with Senjii. I mean, well I mean…we haven't had a lot of time what with all the training. We've spoken but... not alone. I think he's still avoiding me as much as he can." Hiroka said embarrassingly.

"Maybe. From what you said I don't think he thinks he's worthy, not since his teacher was killed."

"But I've told him I don't care!" Hiroka said exasperatedly. "I know men have their honor but he's just pigheaded."

Sakura laughed. "Yes, I know a couple of very pig headed boys."

Tsunade walked into the room, glancing at the two of them. "Where's Calamity?"

"She's coming. She went with Nagi to let Master N'uihc know they were going."

_**Across the village…**_

"You're at a critical stage young Naruto." Pa Toad said with immense aggravation in his voice.

Naruto smiled and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah I know Pa. But I've gotta do this. I will leave really strong clones behind to continue my training though."

"That is not the same. Your strongest clones cannot channel natural chakra you are able to."

"It's the best I can do Pa. I have to do this with my friends."

Pa scoffed. "Well go then! But don't blame me if you blow up!" he hopped off in a huff leaving Naruto standing awkwardly with Ma Toad.

"Don't mind him Naruto. I think he's going to miss having you as a pupil while you're gone."

She smiled at him. "Please be careful dear."

Naruto grinned at Ma and ran off towards the Tower to pack.

An hour later Nagi stood facing his friends. Naruto, Senjii, Sakura, Calamity and Hiroka stood facing him, all packed lightly for the journey. Each wore a grim determined expression on their face. He was overwhelmed by their show of support. He'd never had anything like this in his life. A 'family' as much as it was. And here they were going without question to help him avenge a family he never knew.

Behind the group of Tennin stood N'uihc, unmoving as a statue. He was looking over the group with a keen eye, missing nothing, especially Naruto. If Nagi didn't know better he thought he saw the faintest hint of respect on his face, but he had to be imagining it.

None of the older heads were coming for the mission, but they were there to see them off regardless. Mabry and Yoshi were going to be working on the new vanishing trading village. Old man Tora, Tenchi and Guerrera were still teaching the academy students. Inari and his friends were back in classes, albeit more advanced ones. Ali and his clan were apparently preparing for something as well, something that was rather hush hush. There had been some whispers in the village, ranging from an election for best thief in the world to a decade-annual 'plundering games' that the clan was hoping to win.

Tsunade looked over the group. In Naruto's absence it was agreed that each of the older generation would take turns leading the village. This time it was Tsunade's turn. She scowled unhappily.

"Our two best – and only – teams going out on a single mission. That we're not even being paid for. We could just send one team." She grumbled.

Mabry whispered to her. "Yes we could, but you're wrong. There are numerous bounties on the head of Lord Shisho of the Land of Blood. I will be making contact with various parties before Naruto and the teams even reach the country. So this should be fairly profitable for us." He glanced over at the young teams. "Besides, they need to do this."

Tsunade shook her head, whispering back. "I know."

Nagi cleared his throat and opened his mouth, wanting to say something to his friends. Something to convey how he felt having them all at his back. A few seconds passed with them looking at him.

A few seconds more.

He smiled sheepishly. "Umm…thanks guys."

Naruto grinned back and shouted. "As a good friend of mine says, let's go ignite our flames of youth!"

They headed for the air stream that would take them into Blood Country.

* * *

_**Sunagakure**_

Deidara eyed the tall cliffs ahead that denoted the entrance to Sunagakure. He scowled, wiping the dripping sweat from his brow. This heat was more than he bargained for. Indeed this whole trip was more agonizing than he would have liked. For one, his partner in this venture was not the most talkative. Except when it came time to deride his art. Sasori had no respect for Deidara's clay sculpture bombs. He didn't see the artistry involved in the explosions. The sheer majestry of force and fire. The beauty to be found in the brief, brief moment of a blazing blast!

They came to a stop and he looked quizzically at Sasori. The oddly shaped spy master said he had someone on the inside who would enable them to enter the almost impregnable citadel. Deidara didn't really care though. He would just as easily have flown over the walls on one of his clay birds and just challenged Gaara. All this subterfuge bored him. Like his explosions, he was not subtle.

Sasori made a small movement, and shifted in the sand.

"It is done. Now we wait. It won't be long," he said.

Deidara stood still, his fingers itching, the tension beginning to be replaced by excitement. Soon he would rain death and destruction down. They would soon capture the One-Tail host.

* * *

Neji noticed him first. The Suna-nin was moving in a brisk manner past their training area. But that wasn't what alerted him. It was the blood. He turned quickly to the others.

"Sensei! That jounin over there has blood on him," he said quietly to Maito Gai.

Gai's eyes narrowed as he caught just a glimpse of the figure before he disappeared from sight. "He's headed towards the gates. It may be nothing…but we can make it a training exercise if it is!" With a signal they leapt after the sand ninja, trailing him.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the guarded entrance to Sunagakure proper. The Jounin seemed to be known amongst the other guards and he walked right up to one. Gai was about to call off their trailing him when they saw the Jounin plunge a dagger into the unsuspecting guard. He lowered the guard and moved on into the defended walls, undoubtedly to repeat his murder within. Gai wasted no time.

"Hinata. Alert Baki and Gaara." Hinata nodded and disappeared in a flash.

"Neji, get to a vantage point. The only reason to disable guards is to allow an invasion. I didn't think Danzo would be so bold, but get up high and tell me what's going on. Meet us at the main gate." Neji leapt up, climbing the cliffs quickly.

"I will eliminate that Jounin." Lee raced into the defended walls after the murderous spy, only to be stopped by Gai's hand on his shoulder.

"No Lee. You and Tenten, head for the main gate. I will meet you there in five minutes." Gai seemed a blur as he took off into the tunnels.

Lee nodded and bent over as he clicked off his weights, resting them on the ground. With a nod to Tenten, they headed towards the main gates.

Gai caught up to the Jounin after finding two more bodies. The spy didn't even have time to turn around as Gai's two finger thrust crushed the top of his spine, severing it completely, and forever paralyzing the man. He fell in a heap on the ground, crying out in pain.

"Guards!" Gai then shouted out. Within seconds three armed chuunin appeared. They were taken aback by the fallen Jounin at Gai's feet. They were about to attack him when he held up his hands.

"He was a spy, he killed three guards on the way here. See the truth for yourself." He pointed to the blood stained dagger in the Jounin's hand and the body of another guard a few paces back.

"An attack must be coming. Prepare!" He raced outside to meet his students, leaving three very confused guards behind.

Baki saw the girl Konoha-nin bounding towards them. Her manner and speed spoke of an emergency. He wondered for a second how she found him, but figured her eyes could pick out Gaara's chakra from a mile away. He glanced back towards Gaara who was deep in conversation with the two retired council members. He frowned. It looked like it was going well. Pity. Whatever this emergency was would interrupt their discussion.

Hinata arrived seconds later. "A Suna Jounin was killing guards at the entrance. Sensei asked me to alert you."

Baki looked at her for a second, eyes squinting, his mind working overtime. Initial doubt over the trustworthiness of a Konoha-nin was dismissed quickly. He knew these ninja. An attack on the guards could only mean one thing. He turned quickly.

"Kazekage! We are under attack. The main wall!"

Gai arrived at the same time as Lee and Tenten. Neji bounded down a second later.

"There are two men out there. No army that I could see. Both wearing dark robes with red clouds on them." Gai gave a start. He had expected maybe Danzo, but not this.

"Akatsuki!" He glanced at his pupils. They were not ready to face this threat. "We will wait for backup."

* * *

Deidara was growing impatient. "It's been half an hour Sasori! Can we just go please?!"

Sasori made an annoyed sound. "Yes it has been too long. My spy must have failed." He turned to Deidara. "You're free to do what you want. Just draw out the One-Tail."

Deidara grinned madly. He reached into his pouches and with a few quick motions formed a giant clay bird. He hopped on its back and it took off, towards the cliff and the city on the other side.

He was within feet of the cliff when he realized he was meeting no resistance at all. Not even a shout of alarm at the giant bird attacking. He sensed rather than saw a threat approaching him and his gut told him to swerve, which he did. An explosion rocked the spot his bird was a second earlier, the force almost making him lose his footing. The bird adjusted its flight. He glanced down and saw a group of ninja on top of the cliff. A girl was smiling up at him. She ran towards another boy – neither of them looked much like Suna-nin – who heaved her high into the air at incredible velocity. She was flying almost straight at him, almost. He watched in morbid curiosity as she reached the peak of her ascent. When she was just about parallel with him she made some fast signs and huge scrolls were unraveled. Before he knew it, a storm of knives, Shuriken, Kunai, and anything sharp and pointy were flying towards him. An unbelievable amount of weaponry!

He pulled the bird up, letting the majority of the sharp weapons embed themselves harmlessly in the clay of the bird. He laughed at the stupidity and naivety of the attack. He glanced at her and saw her waving and smiling as she fell back to earth. With a curse he leapt off the bird just as the hundreds of exploding tags attached to the Kunai and Shuriken detonated. They both hit the ground at roughly the same time, landing as well as their chakra enhanced legs would allow.

Sasori was making his way into the entrance when he saw Deidara's bird go up in smoke, so to speak. He cursed inwardly. The fool could do nothing right. A figure stepped in front of him, a figure he recognized.

Baki had long been known as one of the most feared Jounin in Sunagakure. His wind attacks and sword skills were legendary. But even he was worried as he realized the man facing him was an S-Rank missing nin from his own village.

"Stop right there Sasori of the Red Sand." Baki shouted clearly. An almost inaudible gasp was heard from somewhere behind him.

"Ahh, you know me then. Tell me before this goes further. What happened to my spy? I had hoped to do this without so much fanfare."

"The traitor Yura was killed. Turn yourself in Sasori and face your crimes." Baki replied, his voice steely.

Sasori saw no need to talk further so he attacked, his odd shell shape racing towards Baki who unleashed a cutting wind attack from his sword. Sasori dodged it easily and his cloak fluttered in the wind as a tail whipped out from beneath it and arced towards the Jounin. Baki blocked it and tried to cut it, but the tail moved at inhuman speed with great precision. Within seconds of the clash it had impaled his left shoulder, forcing him to drop his sword.

With a curse, Kankuro leapt out into the fray, directing his new puppet Salamander between Sasori and Baki. Sasori withdrew his tail and looked quizzically at Kankuro. Kankuro launched Crow at Sasori, his arms reaching for the oddly shaped man. As the puppet got close, it's mouth dropped open and a deadly gas enveloped the invading missing nin. Sasori laughed and his tail smashed through Crow. With a spin it ripped apart the puppet to the dismay of Kankuro.

"I was wondering what became of these. It's been many years since I've had a chance to play with my old creations. You handle them with some skill young man."

Kankuro swore violently. He knew the legend of Sasori of the Red Sands. The master puppeteer of Suna. He'd not realized that Sasori had also built the puppets he was now using. That would mean that he knew all of their built in tricks. He filed that away for future thought. He'd have to come up with new tricks on his puppets, and not rely so heavily on already constructed traps.

Sasori waited for him to make a move. Kankuro directed Salamander to attack, the large puppet stomping towards Sasori, its own tail hopefully a match for Sasori's. He also unleashed Black Ant in a combined attack. The puppets attacks were however anticipated and avoided, or blocked. Sasori's tail kept taking chunks out of Salamander which Kankuro was using mostly for defense, while Black Ant was for offense.

After a furious few minutes, Sasori had disabled both Puppets and leapt towards Kankuro. Other Suna-nin leapt out in defense but it was too late. He released a poison gas on them and landed safely on the other side. He headed into the city, hearing the sounds of gurgling as the Suna-nin outside died slowly.

Kankuro felt the effects of the poison creeping through his body. He'd been building up his immunities to poison ever since he began puppet training. That was an important skill to have. But this was Sasori, and that meant an unknown poison. He heard the sounds of his fellow ninja dying and cursed in his mind his ineffectiveness against Sasori. He would last longer than the others, but he knew he was dying. He closed his eyes as the convulsions began.

* * *

Deidara was having a hard time of it. The weapons girl had teamed up with another girl with a giant fan. Their combination of wind attacks and a never ending barrage of weapons was effectively neutralizing his bombs. Before he could get anything impressive going he was forced to dodge and avoid. Their plan seemed to be to not let up until they'd killed him. Normally that would be a good plan.

He ran straight at them, ducking and weaving, avoiding every attack that they threw at him. With a burst he launched at them.

Tenten and Temari were taken by surprise at his frontal attack, and therefore were not expecting it when suddenly "Deidara" exploded. They were blown backwards and bounced painfully on the dirt, unconscious.

Deidara burst out of the ground, grinning and laughing maniacally. He turned to go towards the village when the sand around him shifted suddenly and he was enveloped in a coffin of sand. He barely had time to register the voice before the sand crushed him into a clump of dead meat and dripping blood.

Gaara looked with distaste at the remains of the Akatsuki member, before glancing over anxiously towards his fallen sister. A medical ninja nodded at him and motioned for others to bring stretchers. Knowing she was OK, Gaara calmed down considerably. There was one more invader. He went looking for him.

* * *

_**Konoha Morgue**_

Kisaragi Saemon waited until he was sure that there was no one else in the room. His time with Jiraiya had not been wasted. While the Spymaster could very well have turned him into the perfect spy or the perfect assassin, given the time and resources, they did not in fact have the time or resources. So, in the two weeks that Kisaragi had with the Toad Sannin, Jiraiya had made it a priority to teach him exactly two jutsu. Everything else that he would need to know or learn, he was assured his Bloodline Limit would take care of it for him.

The first was the _kawarimi no jutus_, the Body Switch technique. Jiraiya had trained him in it so thoroughly and so well that he could now perform it without seals and barely more than a flicker of a chakra burst warning prior to the technique being used. The other, which is what had truly saved his life this day, was the ability to sense chakra attacks. He wasn't a chakra sensor, not by any stretch of the definition, but Jiraiya, Tsunade, and even Naruto himself a couple times, had worked with him until he could sense and _dodge_ any large-chakra attack made against him.

Not dodge it completely, obviously, but dodge just enough and in just the right way so as to avoid being instantly killed. Yes, Danzo's counter attack had injured him, and badly, but he wasn't dead yet.

Quietly, making as little noise as possible, the 'unknown assassin' that Danzo had put a Chidori rolled himself off the table, doing his best not to shout out in pain, and made his way out of the morgue. He headed to his safe house as quickly and securely as possible, taking almost an hour to get there without being seen and without leaving any trail to follow.

Once the door was close behind him and the curtains drawn, he collapsed on the bed oblivious to the world.

* * *

_Author's Note:_

Things get pretty serious from the next chapter as the action heats up. Our young warriors face a moral decision and a hard battle. Meanwhile back in Konoha a surprising appearance shakes things up. Danzo ruthlessly expands his reach, inching closer to Wave Country. Gaara faces Sasori; and Jiraiya, Tsunade and Old Man Tora come to the aid of Sunagakure. Stay tuned for the next chapter readers, as the Blood arc begins!

**OMAKES!**

**From LifeButAWalkingShadow**

_The sun was just cresting the fringes of Tengoku as one Haruno Sakura began her daily torture session with Tsunade._

"Come on Sakura, you can do better than this!"

The Sannin's words were accompanied by a five armed explosive kunai, heading straight towards the girl's head. Sakura barely held back an expletive as she ducked and weaved, dodging the projectiles her teacher had thrown with unusual vehemence.

"Stupid perving Jiraya, making me deal with a ** Tsunade… "She grumbled irritably, wasting a few precious seconds to steady herself.

Looking up, she saw that her teacher located what appeared to be the biggest boulder in the field, at least a quarter of a ton, and was in the process of picking it up.

"Seriously!?"

Tsunade flung the boulder.

"Stupid training, stupid Konoha, stupid Sannin! SHANNARU!" Empowered by her extreme aggravation, Sakura pumped as much chakra into her fists as she dared and pummeled the boulder out of the air with bone-shattering force, embedding it into the cloud-like surface of Tengoku.

Unseen by student and master, the rocks impact sent an abandoned piece of red brick, brought to Tengoku through the air streams, flying off into the distance. The projectile flew through the air and tumbled off the side of the cloud.

Right into one of the exit streams.

In a lonely grotto in the land of rivers, Deidara was doing one last stock take of his supplies before he set off on his mission to turn Orochimaru into bloodied meat-sponge.

"Explosive Clay, Kunai, Back-up Explosive Clay, Bakudan, Explosives and You for a little light reading, Water, Shruiken and Extra Back-up Explosive Clay. Yep, all set un!"

Nodding to himself, Deidara mounted his explosive bird and touched off the ground, moving into what seemed like a curiously localized gust of wind. At aerial speeds even the Sharingan would be hard pressed to comprehend, the errant piece of masonry reached the conclusion of its long, long flight.

Deidara would never know what caused the sharp pain to the back of his head, which knocked him off his bird with a dull thonk sound and sent him into oblivion for the next eleven hours.

He did, however, discover the fate of his uncontrolled clay bird. He then laughed his ** off about it for the next week.

Not exactly an early riser by nature, Shikamaru was awakened uncomfortably prematurely by the sound of loud alarm echoing around Konoha. Grudgingly moving out of bed, the shadow-used cautiously moved to the entrance to the bunker and ghosted outside.

Scanning his surroundings, Shikamaru was surprised to spot what looked like a huge white bird flying high in the sky above the city of Konoha. The creature appeared to be on a constant straight trajectory, and flying rather fast. Straight towards the Hokage monument.

As Shikamaru stood there, a large fire dragon appeared within his sightline over the trees, homing in on the bird. Sadly for Konoha's security force, it was too little too late, and Deidara's unmanned clay construct slammed into the gigantic stone face of Emperor Danzo.

The resulting fiery explosion, compounded with the rather powerful fire jutsu, was enough to utterly eradicate Danzo's effigy from the mountain, sending it tumbling down harmlessly into the trees beneath.

Shikamaru rubbed his eyes. "Did we do that?"

Realizing that the event would likely result in frantic searches for possible assailants within Konoha, Shikamaru strode back into the hidden bunker and blearily drifted off back to sleep, soothed by the satisfying sound of frantic klaxons.

"You'll never be any use against Danzo like this! Again!"

"Yes Tsunade-Sensei."

* * *

**From Joshua The Evil Guy**

_**"Clean the Monkey"**_

_Senjii was walking along the marketplace one morning, on his way to the training grounds, when he saw an unusual sight. A mother was cleaning her mud-covered children outside her clean home. They way she employed such cleaning was by taking the garden hose and spraying them with water until there was no more mud in sight on their skin._

_"Hmm..." he had an idea!_

_A few minutes later at the training ground saw Senjii working with his blades and using his energy to move them remotely._

_That evening, just before sunset, Senjii was practicing his new move;_

_It freaked everybody out, except Naruto and Yoshi. Senjii held the cursed weapons in front of him and then let them go. They stayed where they had been held, and then chased after the target and shaved everything off it. Those flying blades could shave the fur off a cat without twitching one whisker or letting the cat know until the wind blew and it felt a draft. Against a warrior, it could strip them bare, disarm them, and still shave off their hair, beard, whatever, and all in the same move. He could also use it to increase his range and use some techniques long-range. It wasn't perfected, but it was still devastating to behold._

_**"Pass the Monkey"**_

_Senjii was walking along the new residential district one morning, on his way to the training grounds, when he saw a familiar sight. Hundreds of Naruto's clones working all over the place. It was with regret, and a small bit of jealousy, that Senjii realized he did not have a clone technique of his own._

_"Hmm..." he had an idea!_

_A few minutes later at the training ground saw Senjii working with his blades and using his energy to move them remotely._

_That evening, just before sunset, Senjii was practicing his new move;_

_Senjii focused his chi on the weapons. He held out the swords to his side. He grabbed the sword and held it. He grabbed the sword and held it. He held both swords before him at the ready. Senjii looked to his right and stared at himself. He looked to his left and stared at himself once again. He looked down at his blades and noticed the ethereal glow surrounding each. It took him the longest time, but he'd finally found a way to give himself a variation of a bunshin no jutsu. On either side of him, while they appeared identical, were actually the spirits of the King and the Boy. He knew that he could summon the spirit of the Assassin as well, and that clone would wield two swords as he himself did, but he knew that it was beyond him at this time. He'd already divided his chi into thirds, putting a third into each of his blades, which through the curse and his own chi, somehow creates living bodies for the spirits to reside and fight in once more. He does not yet have the chi or chakra to summon the assassin spirit alone. Yet._


	27. Chapter 27 : Dust to Dust

**Chapter 27**

**Dust to Dust**

_**Sunagakure**_

Gaara's sand rose up in a perfect defense against the onslaught from Sasori. He tried to grab the scorpion shaped man in his sand, but the Akatsuki member was faster than Gaara would have thought he could move. They'd been fighting for several minutes thus far and neither had landed a single attack.

Sasori however, didn't seem bothered by this, but instead rather amused.

"I see Sunagakure has chosen its next Kazekage well. Your mastery over sand is commendable." His scorpion tale lashed out and gouged a slice into the globe of hardened sand mostly encircling Gaara. Spikes of sand burst out of the ground, seeking to impale Sasori, but no avail. The puppet master was a blur avoiding the spikes.

"However," The cloth flap in front of Sasori's mouth fluttered and poisoned senbon flew towards Gaara. His perfect defense again leapt up around to protect him. "As much as this visit home has entertained me, I really must be on my way. Let's see how much of a Kage you are."

Sasori leapt high into the air, releasing seals after seals. In a cacophony of sound and smoke, one hundred puppets seemed to levitate in the air. With a smirk he directed them to unleash their poison gasses at once.

A noxious cloud of purple gas settled high over the city. Gaara looked incredulously at the size of it, and then saw around him citizens running for shelter screaming. His eyebrows furrowed in anger and he raised his hands.

The very ground of all of Sunagakure was made of sand. Sand which Gaara now called on to rise. IN a swirling stinging maelstrom of particles the ground itself erupted, spewing forth every inch of sand that covered the ground, and every building and object in the city. Straining, Gaara directed the sand to form up high above the city, coming together and solidifying, blotting out the sun.

"What is going on?" Lee shouted to his sensei over the din.

Maito Gai was peering to the battle between Gaara and Sasori. "The Kazekage is protecting the city! The poison cloud will kill everyone if it lands!"

Temari and Baki – who was nursing the wound to his shoulder – looked at each other and leapt up, jumping from building to building. With a final superhuman leap, they got on top of the sand before it finished solidifying. Temari whipped out her fan, and Baki her instructor in using the wind element conjured up his strongest wind attack. Together they batted at the cloud of poison gas that Gaara had prevented from landing on the city. They attacked and sent as much wind as possible towards it, trying to move it away from the city and towards the open desert.

Sasori chuckled and moved with inhuman speed, his tail lashing out impossibly fast. Gaara's concentration was completely on keeping the sand shield over the city up, but his natural defensive shield rose up, cocooning him inside its near impregnable shell. Sasori's scratched a deep gouge in the orb before recoiling, and releasing a cloud of gas that hung over and clung to it.

It seeped into the sand where a weapon would not be able to penetrate. It took a few seconds for Gaara to detect the gas inside his bubble but too late. As the orb dissolved to allow him to evade his body locked up. Sasori's tail lunged forward once more, impaling the sand user through the shoulder.

Gaara coughed in pain, a splatter of blood flying out. His eyes narrowed and his hand grasped the tail. Without conscious thought his defensive layer of sand went on the offensive, tracking down the length of the metal tail towards the body of Sasori. Sand engulfed the invader and Gaara made the crushing movement with his free hand, executing a picture perfect Sand Coffin.

Blood fell freely from Gaara's wound, but he paid it no attention. He glanced towards the cloud of poison gas heading towards the open desert thanks to the efforts of Temari and Baki. His city safe for the moment, he slumped down onto his knees. The combination of maintaining the huge sand wall above the city and the blood loss proving to be finally too much, he slipped into unconsciousness, held up only by the metal tail still sticking through his body.

Sasori's tail whipped back suddenly, breaking free of Gaara's grasp, allowing the Kazekage to fall to the ground. With a loud explosion, he burst out of the top of the Sand Coffin, landing neatly besides the comatose Gaara. Sasori ripped the tattered robes off of his body, revealing an armored shell. Without so much as a word, he tightened a coil around the prone Kazekage, and leapt into the air, flying towards the exit of Sunagakure, disappearing in his speedy movements. His summoned puppets disappearing behind him.

The sand shield over the city began to fall apart, raining down over the city, coating it once again in the desert. Temari and Baki controlled their fall and landed on a nearby rooftop. They surveyed the poison gas, mostly dissipated, but some still falling towards the southern part of the city. Baki called down to his men.

"Evacuate the southern city now! Masks on for everyone!" In a flash of activity men raced to meet the falling doom and try to save as many as they could.

Maito Gai, Lee and Ten Ten landed next to Baki and Temari.

"I lost track of Gaara and Sasori." Gai exclaimed. "It seems as if the Kazekage fell in battle."

Baki nodded. "We have to track him and find him. But half our men are needed here to stave off that poison cloud."

Gai motioned to his team. "We will go."

Baki cursed and pulled out a small round stone with markings on it. "I had no idea I'd be using this so soon. But if Gaara is in the hands of Akatsuki, we may need the help of another Jinchurriku."

He pressed the seals on the stone and spoke into it. "Gaara kidnapped by Sasori of Akatsuki. In pursuit heading north." The stone flashed bright white then stopped glowing.

After a few seconds a voice came though the stone. "…shit it works…I'll be fu…wait what? Gaara? We're on our way!"

"Was that Jiraiya?" Gai exclaimed, marveling at the stone. It made no other noises though.

Baki shrugged. "We cannot afford to wait on them. We will leave now!"

"Hold on young one." The old man Ebizo walked over, along with his even older sister Chiyo.

"The Kazekage saved every life in this city today. Proving himself a greater man than his father ever was. I was going to decline teaching him in the true Way of Sand, but I've changed my mind. We will pursue them together."

Chiyo grimaced at them all. "Besides, Sasori and I have some unfinished business."

Baki grunted. "I'm sorry elders, but we must move fast. The Kazekage's life depends on it."

"We are not as frail as you think. You are a baby to us, and forever shall we be above you." Ebizo shot him a steely look. He closed his eyes and faced the sky. Everyone watched in stunned silence as he reached out, pointing.

"They are heading towards the Mountains of Sedierta. For now." He opened his eyes. "The Grandfather of the desert knows where they are."

"Then lead on Grandfather!" Gai shouted in glee. "Show us your fires of youth!"

Chiya cackled wildly and leapt off the building, followed by her grinning brother.

* * *

_**Tengoku**_

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya burst into the hall of the white tower. Most of the people he wanted to see were there discussing the building of the pilot village for trading. Kakashi, Old man Tora, Tenchi, Tsunade, Guerrero, Mabry and even the head of the Wolf thieves Ali.

"There's been an attack on Sunagakure. Gaara was captured by Sasori. Akatsuki."

Tsunade swore up and down. The village council such as it was had opted to share responsibilities while Naruto was away. This time around she was in charge, and she wished she wasn't.

"Both of our teams have gone off to Blood Country. That means some of us need to go help." She looked inquiringly at the group.

They all nodded, and she shook her head. "Ok no, we ALL can't go. I'll go, and take Kakashi, and Jiraiya. Whose turn was it next to lead the village?"

Ali grunted. "Mine. But my clan wishes to be involved in the next mission. We have not made any contributions to this haven and wish to do so at the earliest possibility."

Tsunade shrugged. "Noted. You're in the next mission."

"Wait." Old Tora chimed in. "I'm coming. I have a history with that Sasori."

"Fine. Let's go. Time is of the essence. Gear up, don't forget the home summons arm bands so we can get back home when all is done. The wind stream takes an hour to get to Suna. We leave in five minutes."

* * *

_**Wind Country, east of Sunagakure**_

"The trail is running cold." Baki cursed. He could no longer see any tracks in the quickly shifting sand.

"We do not need a trail young one. We head towards the mountain. It is a straight line." Ebizo said. They were racing at a very fast speed through the sands of the desert.

Baki glanced towards the respected village elder. All his knowledge of the man was through stories. He used to be one of the most feared sand users in all of Suna. The history books had stories of him and his family dating back hundreds of years. As long as there had been a Sunagakure there was an Ebiza, the name passed down from father to son. Every new generation spending the first few decades of their life living out in the desert, to return to the village and help lead it. It was said that even now there was another, younger Ebiza out there somewhere in the desert, honing his skills.

The other revered sibling Chiyo seemed to be enjoying the run. He had to hand it to them, they were not only keeping up, but seemed to almost be holding back to allow the rest of them to set the pace. It was remarkable for their age.

He turned his head and watched the Team from Konoha. He struggled with his perception of all Konoha nin and the truth of these people. They were clearly on the side of his village, yet years of a cold war between the two villages had left no room in him for anything but mistrust. He could put that aside for now though if it meant getting Gaara back.

They raced towards the speck of a mountain in the distance.

* * *

Sasori entered the cave having already laid out the traps that he'd planned from before. It would buy him enough time to complete this ritual. Laying out Gaara's body he sat and summoned the chi and concentrated on the seals necessary to communicate with the others. After a minute, shadowy forms began to appear around him.

"Deidara is dead. I have the boy." Sasori rasped.

"Then it was a fair trade." The Leader said.

"I am being pursued. I cannot say by how many." He held aloft a finger with an ornate ring, matching the one he himself wore. "I was able to retrieve Deidara's ring, and 'most' of the pieces of his body."

"Good. It will have to do. Use the rods I gave you and impale his main chakra points. I will take it from there. Itachi and Kisame will delay your pursuers long enough for us to finish the ceremony."

Sarori didn't bother replying, nodding to two of his followers to leave the cave, and close it behind them. He quickly gathered the parts of Deidara's body he had been able to retrieve – head, half a torso, left arm, right thigh – and put it together. He used chakra strings to tie it all together as best he could. Swiftly he impaled the neck, arm, and torso with short black rods. Stepping back to check on his work, he nodded then went about arranging Gaara's body for the ritual.

* * *

The wind stream buffeted them from all sides. Like a hot breathe beating at their clothes, seeping into their pores. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi and Old Man Tora flew through the air at impossible speed, clutching Yoshi's gliding contraption between them. The air-stream that led to Sunagakure was a very fast one. Naruto had said as much, but it was a very different thing to experience it.

"Look!" Jiraiya shouted to them, pointing downwards.

A fast moving small group were making their way through a sparse wooded area, towards a large mountain range. Despite what many thought, Suna was not all sand and dunes. Woodlands were also fairly common, its hardy trees having learned to survive with the barest minimum of water. The group was moving extremely quickly, and there was something familiar about two of the men in the group.

Kakashi grimaced. "I'd know that bowl cut anywhere. We must leave the wind stream!"

Tsunade didn't hesitate, clapping her hands together in a burst of chakra. The impact disrupting the stream enough for them to fall out of it. They unfurled the wings on Yoshi's machine and held on tight as it lurched upwards and forward. Jiraiya sweated profusely, his fear of heights kicking in full gear as they sped towards the ground, albeit at an angled-controlled descent.

His fears proved unfounded though. Yoshi had had more than enough time to work out the kinks in his invention. The Daedelus guided them safely to a stretch of flat land ahead of the party they were tracking. They folded it back up and Tsunade sealed it away in a scroll.

It was at this moment that the contingent from Sunagakure burst into the clearing, startled at seeing a giant bird descend from the sky. Baki stared in disbelief at the ex-Konoha nin –now Tengoku nin- standing before him. He'd sent the message for help a little over an hour ago. This response time was unreal. He filed that information away for future use.

Baki recognized the members of the Tengoku team except the old man. He saw a look of recognition cross Ebiza's face briefly, but asked no questions. He pointed towards the mountains and without a word they all raced towards the captured Kazekage.

* * *

Kisame grumbled as he sat next to Itachi. He considered the other nin a friend as much as he had ever had one. But that didn't prevent him from cursing loudly about his choice of terrain for this ceremony. Itachi didn't even blink though, just beginning the transfer of power to possess his choice of Sasori's two minions. Kisame likewise did the same, making sure to only commit a small percentage of his chakra, keeping the rest for the ceremony, as well for his own defense. Realistically it was a drop in the bucket for him, but no one needed to know exactly how much he was capable of, not even Itachi.

* * *

Night came swiftly in the desert, bringing with it biting cold winds. The contingent from Sunagakure and Tengoku stopped running when they reached the foothills of the mountain range where they were sure Sasori had brought Gaara.

"They did not leave the area." Ebizo said quietly. "They are somewhere in the rocks, deep within one of these mountains. The rocks are confusing…I cannot track them."

They looked grimfaced, staring at the line of mountains stretching off into the distance. Kakashi made a quick jutsu sign, and summoned his pack of ninja dogs.

"Guys," He said to them. "Look around the area and see if you pick up any scents. We're looking for a Jinchurriku and an S-Class missing nin."

The dogs leapt off in many directions, searching for scents. Tsunade sat down on a rock, rubbing her forearms nervously.

"The more time we waste here the more time Akatsuki has with Gaara." She grumbled.

Jiraiya nodded. "My sources say it takes some time, for them to extract the Tanuki."

"Three days." Chiyo said quietly. "I've seen three such extractions in my lifetime. If the host is strong that is. He can hold out for that long." She looked at the faces around her. "Normally the host dies at the end…"

The stood in silence for a few minutes before one of Kakashi's ninja dogs, a small pug, came bounding back.

"I have a scent!" he barked out.

Just then another dog came in from another direction. "I have them!"

Kakashi swore violently. "He must have met up with some others and split up."

Baki stepped in. "We split up too. Jiraiya, take your contingent that way." He said pointing after the second dog that had arrived. "We will go with this pup."

"….Hey I'm not a pup…" The pug whispered in the background.

Without another word the teams split up and raced off in their separate directions.

* * *

As the sun rose over the hills, Jiraiya and the team from Tengoku entered a clearing to find a long figure standing before them.

"Itachi!" Kakashi exclaimed.

The Akatsuki member stood just watching them, waiting. Kakashi stepped forward, tensing. Tsunade put out her arm stopping him. She glared at Itachi.

"I think you're better move boy. I'm not in the best of moods."

Itachi looked over the team. "Two of the Legendary Sannin, The White wolf of Konoha, and an old man I do not recognize, but judging by your present company, you're no civilian."

Old Man Tora nodded at the Shinobi, but said nothing. Jiraiya whispered to Tora, "Don't look directly at his eyes. He's a genjutsu master."

Tsunade lowered her hand, and Kakashi disappeared in a blur. His speed unimaginable as he shot like lightning towards Itachi. His right hand began to crackle and the sounds of birds chirping filled the air.

He thrust forward into the body of Itachi, penetrating clean through his chest. For a split second Tsunade thought he'd done it, but then suddenly Itachi burst into a flock of crows.

"Shit!" She clasped her hands together quickly."We're caught in his Genjutsu!" She made a quick hand sign, as did Jiraiya. "Dispel!" They both dispelled the illusion. Itachi was several yards ahead still, but Kakashi was not moving, frozen in the position he'd ended up in having 'impaled' Itachi.

Tsunade raced forward to help Kakashi, while Jiraiya turned to look at Tora. The old man was frozen in place as well. Jiraiya touched him and surged a small burst of chakra into him, disrupting the genjutsu he was caught in.

Tora awoke with a start and fell to his knees gasping. "How…how many days…"

Jiraiya grimaced. It appears Itachi was using one of the most feared genjutsu of the Uchiha clan. The target could be trapped for seconds and it felt like days, years maybe. All while being tortured endlessly.

"It's just been a few seconds…" The roar of Tsunade startled him before he could finish. She was airborne , launching herself at Itachi. Kakashi lay on the ground now, having also been dispelled of the illusion.

Tsunade kept her eyes away from Itachi's eyes, trusting only her peripheral vision. His hand moved quickly, a fast movement, but nothing that could withstand her brute strength. With a loud crack her fist passed right through where his body had been and cracked the ground beneath them, erupting a large fountain of sand and rock.

"Another Genjutsu!" Tsunade cursed. Finding herself in a place with no one and nothing else. Except Itachi who was coming at her with a sword. She was unable to move as he ran her through with the sword. Another Itachi appeared, also impaling her with his sword. And another, and another. Tsunade would have passed out from the pain, but she kept her head, focused on the pain and pumped chakra into her own body. "Dispel!"

She slumped to the ground gasping. "How is he putting us into Genjutsu?" She shouted back at Jiraiya. "We're not making eye contact!"

Jiraiya leapt towards her, "I don't know, but I've had enough of this. Stay down." His hands were a blur, and a series of senbon needles with small inscriptions on them flew out of his hair in a full three hundred and sixty degrees. Another hand movement and the needles multiplied, and multiplied again, and again. Twenty became, a hundred, became five hundred. The unavoidable barrage was almost impossible to dodge or see. A sudden explosion to the right of them, and they saw Itachi skid to the left, clutching his right arm.

"My blood bomb senbon needles. They explode on contact with even a drop of blood. You were known as a genius in your clan, but illusions or not, your body has to be somewhere. And no one can dodge physical attacks forever."

Itachi got up and used his hand to dust off his robes. Jiraiya stepped forward, into the same plane that Tsunade had found herself in. "Shit!" As the first swords penetrated him, he began to prepare his own dispel jutsu, when It all disappeared around him. He stumbled clutching at imaginary wounds, when he saw Itachi impaled on the tail of what looked like a living nightmare; a scorpion the size of a small house. Incredulously he watched as the scorpion's claws grabbed Itachi's body , slid it off the end of the sharp tail. Blood was pouring out his mouth and he was about to say something when the claws ripped him in two and flung the parts in two different directions.

The scorpion breathed heavily then crumbled into rocks and sand. Jiraiya Looked over and saw Old Man Tora stand up defiantly. "Payback you little punk." He whispered under his breath.

Tsunade and Kakashi got up slowly as well, walking over to the top half of Itachi's twitching body. Tora and Jiraiya joined them a few seconds later.

"Who is that?" Tsunade asked quietly.

The body in the ditch was wearing Itachi's clothes, but his face was no longer that of the ex-konohanin. He was mouthing words, but only blood and bubbles were escaping. Jiraiya knelt down by the body, and pulled off a ring off the fingers of the body, letting the hand fall back.

"A soldier of Akatsuki. This was a delaying tactic. They must have used a jutsu to make him look like Itachi." He held up the ring. "This might have been how we were being put under the illusion. I'll need to study it further." He glanced up at Tora.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side."

* * *

Baki and team Gai entered a ravine, scrambling under the evening mist. It had been almost a solid day of following this trail. They'd left Sunagakure at most an hour behind Sasori, yet because he knew where he was going, and had done several tradecraft tricks to hide his trail, they'd lost more than an entire day just trying to find him.

They came upon a small stream besides the edge of a forest, and a lone figure standing before them. His smile ridged with sharp teeth arrayed in it, beckoning them forward.

* * *

_**Later...**_

Tired, the teams converged on the rock wall that the ninja dog said the scent ended. Baki rested Gai against a tree, the Konoha nin exhausted after his fight with Kisame, only to learn that it was just a clone. He exchanged a look with Tsunade who came over and began examining the quirky dresser of Konoha.

Baki stepped forward and examined the rock wall.

"It's a door. There's a cave beyond it." He said quietly. Night had fallen again. By his count, they had another twelve hours to find Sasori and save Gaara. This close…Baki allowed himself some hope that they would make it in time.

"Wait." Jiraiya stepped forward. "That seal…" He pointed up on the rock face. There was a small tag stuck to the wall. He put one foot on the wall and walked straight up towards it. He stooped down and studied it for a second.

"It's a trap seal. There are likely two or three others nearby. All must be removed at the same time, otherwise this place explodes. It looks quite powerful."

Lee raised his hand. "We will find them and pull them." He nodded his head towards Neji and Ten and Jiraiya watched them disappear into the surrounding woods, searching for the trap seals.

Jiraiya sat down hard. Maito Gai collapsed to the ground as well, the wounds sustained from his battle with Kisame wearing him down. Tsunade knelt beside him and took the opportunity to tend to his wounds.

"The Kazekage better hold on, we're close."

* * *

"They're close." Itachi's shadow spoke quietly in the cave.

"Very." Kisame's shadow replied.

"It doesn't matter." The leader claimed. "It is almost done."

Gaara's body had risen into the air. The streams of chakra were flowing faster now, our of his mouth into the mouth of the giant statue that stood in the dark. The shadows in the room kept up their chanting.

"They will not make it in time."

* * *

"Found it." Lee spoke into his headset.

"So have I." Neji confirmed.

"Hold on... I think... yes! I've found mine too." Ten Ten chimed in.

"Pull it! Now!" Kakashi pulled the tag off the rock wall in unison with Lee, Ten Ten and Neji.

"Well this is interesting." Kakashi uttered staring at the clone of himself. The rock wall had crumbled easily, but this automatic defensive jutsu had activated, creating a perfect copy of Kakashi.

Baki grunted. "We don't have time for this. Kakashi you'll have to handle this on your own, we're going in." He, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Old man Tora, Ebizo and Chiyo leapt past the fake Kakashi into the darkness of the cave.

Kakashi sighed and took up an offensive Taijutsu position, watching as his mirror image duplicated his move.

* * *

"What do we have here?"

The voice floated in the gloom of the dark cave, echoing off of the mossy walls, dripping with malevolence. The giant cavern was poorly lit, but by what light there was, the teams from Tengoku and Sunagakure were able to see a long figure standing over the prostrate body of the Kazekage. Another body lay not far away, but this one was in several pieces. Large holes showing in his skin where something had been jammed in post-mortem. Clearly whatever purpose Diedara had served had now been fulfilled.

"Not one, but two of the Sannin?" Sasori chuckled. "I should feel flattered." His masked face snapped to the other people in the room.

"So, you're still alive old woman."

Chiyo did not laugh for once. She nodded, her eyes a mix of emotions. Her brother Ebizo touched her shoulder. He did not spare a glance towards the puppeteer.

Old man Tora stepped forward. "Sasori of the Red Sands. Do you remember me?"

Sasori tilted his head slightly. "No."

Tora grinned. "Maybe this will help." He made a quick hand sign then slammed his palms into the ground. In a flash large rocks in the ground became even larger snakes, striking out at Sasori. The puppeteer leapt backwards avoiding the onslaught. Ten, Twenty, Forty, the number of rock-snakes that Tora produced and directed to attack kept multiplying. Not being real creatures their speed was phenomenal.

Baki used the opportunity as Sasori was forced away to race to Gaara's form. He felt at his neck then looked up. "He has a pulse, though it is very weak."

Sasori laughed even while jumping and avoiding the snakes. "Ahhh. Kazimo. Tora Kazimo. I remember you now. This is quite the reunion today, between Grandmother and yourself. When was it? Twenty years ago that I killed her? Twenty years since you were unable to protect her?"

Tora Kazimo, the head of the Tora clan and the master of the clan's secret Doubutso Souzou technique gritted his teeth and bore down his chakra. A giant scorpion burst from the ground sending dirt and stone flying everywhere. Sasori's smaller quicker scorpion shaped body tried to dodge, but the giant scorpion's tail was quicker, cracking open Sasori's shell.

"What the hell, that's not his body?" Jiriaya asked.

"No." Tora spit out through gritted teeth. "The real monster is inside."

Sasori stepped out of the rubble. He was a boy of about fifteen years, wearing pristine Akatsuki robes. His face was remarkably un-lifelike however, his eyes unblinking, staring maniacally at them. "It's been a while since someone forced me to show my true self."

He stepped forward lightly, his movements more fluid than they had a right to be. "I'm glad we get to finish this fight. If I remember correctly, the last time I attacked your clan homestead, I impaled your wife, and almost decapitated you. What say we fix that 'almost'." In a massive explosion of sound and smoke, a hundred floating puppets appeared behind and besides Sasori. "Meet my army."

Jiraiya glared. He'd heard of the famed puppet army of Sasori of the Red Sands. It was a fearsome weapon. He'd also had no idea the level of history that existed between Sasori and Tora. Filing that information away for later, he spared but a glance to where Chiyo and Tsunade were examining Gaara. Ebizo seemed more content to watch the battle however. That left himself, Baki and Tora to handle one of the most dangerous S class ninja's in the bingo book.

Tora's giant scorpion attacked again, but its rock body was destroyed easily by the scores of puppets Sasori was controlling. Baki unsheathed his sword and swung with a cutting wind attack, hoping to reduce the numbers. The air slash struck two puppets and sent pieces flying. But within seconds, Sasori twitched his fingers and the puppets were put back together.

Ebizo spoke softly. "All puppeteers use chakra strings to connect to and control their puppets. I've never seen someone control so many so effectively. Sasori really is a prodigy among puppet users."

"Thanks, but maybe we can admire his skill later." Jiraiya grunted, narrowly avoiding a diving puppet that looked like a clown.

Tora grunted and dug deep, flowing as much chakra as he could manage into the ground itself. The cave began to rumble. A small army of monkeys burst from the ground, going after the army of puppets. The monkeys ran rampant, howling and shrieking and tearing at limbs and heads, smashing wooden parts.

The entire scene was madness for many minutes. Tora collapsed in exhaustion, his eyes glazing over. Ebizo walked over to him and cradled him, carrying him closer to where Tsunade and Chiyo were treating Gaara.

As the fight raged around them, he saw the look on Chiyo's face as she watched Gaara. "He's dying. The monster I put inside him has been ripped out." A tear rolled down her face. "Help me brother."

Ebizo nodded and looked back over to where the battle raged. Jiraiya had called out one of his battle toads, and the odds were moving back in their favor. Sasori controlled one hundred puppets, but puppets were no match for the numbers that Tora had created, nor the strength of Jiraiya, or the resilience and anger of Baki.

Still, this fight had gone on long enough, and Ebizo was angry at the pending death of the Kazekage.

"Sasori." His words were little more than a whisper, but everyone in the cave stopped. His voice had seemed to come from within the very mountain itself.

"I won't ask you to surrender. It has gone too far. I see no benefit to capturing you alive. I'm giving you a chance though. A chance to make peace with yourself."

Sasori snorted. "What are you talking about old man? Your clan barely hangs on by a thread. What can an old adviser like you threaten me with?"

Ebizo shook his head. "You're wrong. I have no clan. I have had no clan for over a thousand years." He raised his arms to his sides, the ground seemed to move. Not shake, but almost rippled like liquid. Jiraiya leapt back and away, landing on a hard rock formation. Baki and Sasori did the same.

It took a few seconds, but Jiriaya realized that the ground wasn't rippling, but rather the ground was alive with small creatures, thousands of them, millions maybe. They looked like silverfish, small and sleek, writhing just beneath the sands surface. They were swirling in the ground, going around and around Ebizo. Slowly they broke the surface, and began to cover his skin.

"There was never more than one Ebizo. There has always only been me. Every fifty years I return to the desert. The desert that I am part of." The silverfish like creatures writhed and squirmed, covering every inch of Ebizo including his face. The writhing slowed, then stopped, the creatures forming a leather skin casing. As Jiriaya and the others watched. Ebizo seemed almost to absorb the leather skin and all the creatures. In the space of a minute it was all gone, and Ebizo looked to be in his early twenties, standing like a statue, eyes staring at nothing in particular, even Sasori seemed dumbstruck.

His eyes opened, and bright gold eyes stared straight back at Sasori. "I am Ebizo, rider of the true Grandfather of the desert." He motioned his hand and the mountain truly rumbled this time. The ceiling threatened to cave in, stalagmite falling around them.

Jiraiya rushed over to Gaara, and scooped him up, racing for the exit. He didn't spare a glance to know that Tsunade had picked up Chiyo and was right on his heels, Baki and Tora not far behind. Whatever was happening in this cave none of them wanted to be part of it.

Sasori watched in amazement as the hideout crumbled. Ebizo seemed unaffected by the damage being done, no rocks or dirt coming anywhere near him. With a curse Sasori directed his force of puppets to kill the old man.

Out the ground burst a giant cloud of dust, followed by a worm larger than even Orochimaru's Snake summons. The worm swallowed and crunched the vast majority of the puppets. Sasori tried to direct his chakra strings to reconstitute the broken puppets, but the chakra cut off close to the worm.

"What is this!?" He bellowed over the din. His smooth face not giving any signs of his internal distress. Another sandworm burst upwards, narrowly missing him. The sandworm exploded out of the mountain, leaving a gaping hole exposing the noon sky.

The rumbling worsened, the very cave collapsing. "This? This is the end." Ebizo said matter of factly. "Meet the only clan I'll ever have."

Sasori lashed out with the metal cable stinger he had coiled inside his hollow torso. It sped towards Ebizo's head, looking to spear it in an instant. He used his puppeteering skills to ensure it came in from an unexpected angle. A move that had never ever failed to kill its intended victim. Except this one time.

Ebizo didn't move. He just seemed to be slightly to the right of where he was before. Sasori recognised it for what it was, near god-like speed. Ebizo grasped the spike at the end of the cable and tore it off, pulling at the cable itself to draw Sasori close.

Sasori cursed and leapt backwards, disconnecting the cable from his body, the propellers on his back giving him a sudden burst of speed. His unblinking eyes didn't see when Ebizo disappeared, only to reappear behind him.

"So..So fast!" he uttered just as his propellers were torn off like paper, Ebizo's fingers digging into them without any resistance.

A hidden trap sprung in the back of his head and poison gas exploded outwards in what would be a fatal attack in any circumstance. The "old" man was no longer in the danger zone however, having kicked Sasori away the instant he tore off the propellers.

Sasori rolled and came up, his left hand unhinging and letting loose a stream of fire, trying to track the impossibly fast moving elder. All the while more sandworms, larger and smaller both kept breaking ground and destroying more of the mountain.

"You'll bring the cave down on us both!" Sasori shouted.

Ebizo appeared at his left side and tore off Sasori's left arm. Sasori fell to his right, a blade coming out of his right hand and slashing wildly.

The old Suna nin stood there, his calm demeanor not indicative of the peril they were in.

"The mountain will be reshaped, but cannot be destroyed. That's one thing you young children never learnt about the desert. The land is eternal. You must be part of it."

All the worms suddenly burrowed back into the ground, disappearing in a cacophony of noise and dust. The ceiling to the cave was gone, most of this side of the mountain had collapsed. Sasori looked up at the night sky, a full moon shining down on their battle.

He had ended up next to the pieces of Diedara's body. His old teammates unseeing eyes looked directly at him. Part of his face had been burned off in the explosion that had claimed his life, the lips seared away to reveal a sneer that Sasori would swear was directed at him. With a curse he kicked the head away, and turned, looking for Ebizo.

* * *

"What the hell is going on in there?" Baki asked when they were far enough outside and away from the destruction of the cave. Jiraiya gently put Gaara down, shaking his head, realising that he was carrying dead weight, then turned to look back the way they came.

"I..I honestly have no idea."

Tsunade put Chiyo down as well. The old lady walked over to Gaara's body, nodding as if making a decision. Oddly, she laughed.

"My Ebizo. He will handle my grandson for me."

Baki growled. "Who is Ebizo? I've never heard any indication that he was such a fearsome fighter. That he was revered yes, but this...?"

Chiyo cackled. "You children. Always thinking you know everything. Ebizo predates all of us. From a time before this time. He's the desert itself, pure primal destruction as you've not seen. Who do you think first captured the One-Tail? I met him when I was but a young girl, and our friendship has endured. So close were we that we were known as brother and sister. There are so very few true immortals left in this world..."

She grew somber. "This though... Gaara is my responsibility. My flesh and blood has done this to the leader of our village. A leader whom I myself had cursed with that beast."

The noise died down in the mountain. An eerie calm taking over the landscape. Not a night cricket made a noise. No wind blew. Out of the dark strode the silhouette of a man. Ebizo walked forward calmly, his hands wrapped around a small cylinder.

"It is done sister." His eyes didn't look at anyone else, his hand outstretched with the cylinder. Chiya held onto it, looking at it sadly.

"What is that?" Kakashi asked, walking over. His own battle had taken a lot out of him.

"This is the only piece of my grandson that was still human. His core. He is still alive - so to speak - in this casing." She handed it back to Ebizo, looking into his eyes. "Please take care of him."

From the brush other Sunagakure nin appeared, trickling in. There had been many others from the village that pursued their missing Kazekage. The total destruction of an entire mountain brought them in like a beacon. They didn't crowd the elders or the team from Tengoku though, instead asking questions of Baki and looking towards Gaara's lifeless body.

Ebizo looked at Gaara's lifeless body, then back to Chiyo, oblivious to the others around him. "It is forbidden for a reason Sister. We've had this discussion. The desert claims back what it should. Dust to dust. He is gone."

Chiyo shook her head. "My wrongdoing. My blood did this to him. I put it in him, and my grandson tore it out. This is balance Brother." She touched her hand to his face. They stayed like that for a few more seconds then she turned and knelt besides Gaara.

Her hands began to glow blue. Tsunade's eyes grew large.

"No!" She moved as if to stop the old woman. Ebizo gripped her wrist, firmly yet gently. Tsunade found herself unable to break free. She supposed she could have if she exerted her inhuman strength, but Ebizo was an ally.

"Stop her! That technique, I've read about it! It is forbidden!"

Ebizo's voice was cold. "Watch it and learn Tsunade. Or this technique dies with her and I will not be sorry to see that happen."

They all stood in silence as Chiyo executed a perfect self sacrifice resurrection Jutsu. her face drained of color, as the chakra poured through her hands into Gaara's chest. Sweat beaded her forehead, the strain visible. With a curse Ebizo knelt beside her and touched her shoulder, feeding chakra to her so she could complete her last wish.

Gaara coughed.

Chiyo looked over at the crowd gathered for Gaara, smiled, then collapsed sideways. Ebizo held her softly as the coughs racked Gaara's reanimated body.

The Kazekage opened his eyes.

* * *

_**Blood Country**_

"We can pop out over there!" Naruto pointed to a hill that the wind stream dipped close to. By close of course he meant it was several hundred feet at least above it. The girls held onto the smaller Daedalus that Yoshi had given them. The boys insisted they didn't need one, And N'uihc looked with disdain at the contraption.

Naruto disrupted the stream with a burst of Chakra and they fell. Naruto decided he wouldn't destroy the landscape every time they travelled somewhere, so he pumped chakra into his legs, landing like an explosion in the ground.

Nagi fell into his own shadow, disappearing then reappearing a second later.

Senjii was a whirlwind with his swords, creating a small wind devil that buffeted his fall, allowing him to land semi gracefully.

The girls glided down on the Daedelus, touching down without incident.

N'uihc was just there. One minute he was in the air, the other he was standing calmly waiting on the ground.

Naruto sheepishly climbed out of the hole he had created on impact. He dusted himself off then looked around.

"Ok, so where do we go from here?"

Sakura brought out small compass and a map. "That way is the nearest major village and road. We can take this road all the way to the capital." She pointed north.

"Then that's where we go." Naruto said, "But let's scout it a bit. This is sort of enemy territory." A lesson learnt long ago that Naruto didn't forget. He quickly formed the seals for his Kage Bunshin. In seconds he had a team of five 'Naruto's' fanning out ahead, looking for any signs of an ambush or trap.

They walked northwards, taking the opportunity to study the land. Much of what should have been green was blackened and soot covered. The reason obvious. To the far north a mountain was spewing ash and black smoke. A volcano N'uihc happily explained to Naruto.

No animals crossed their paths. No birds flew in the sky.

"This land is dead." Senjii muttered. Naruto and Nagi nodded their heads in agreement.

"It's not dead," Calamity spat. "It's dying. This could all spring back to life." She kicked over a pile of ash to expose a small green grass struggling to reach the sunlight.

"Life always finds a way." She said quietly. N'uihc looked at her, no one seeing the proud glint in his eye.

* * *

An hour later as they were nearing the village, one of Naruto's clones burst through the foliage into their midst.

"Up ahead! Hurry!"

They raced after the clone towards the village, hearing by this point the sound of shouts coming from somewhere ahead. It took just a few minutes for them to reach the village. The bunshin led them through a narrow alleyway onto what was likely the main square of the town. Every citizen must have been gathered there, at least a few hundred people were present. All shouting and swearing, some brandishing torches, others carried weapons like pole axes and staffs.

At the center of the square Naruto saw what the commotion was about. A woman and her two children were alight, having been set on fire by the men around her in what had to be seconds before their arrival. Their screams reached to the sky to the seeming delight of the crowd gathered. Naruto stood in shock for a mere second, but N'uihc acted faster. The Shinanju master was suddenly on the platform knocking the men out of the way. The fire raged however and the children's screams went silent, leaving only the woman's voice raised above the crowds roar of approval. N'uihc was smothering the woman with his robe, killing the flames.

Naruto and his friends leapt to the platform to help, but it was too late. N'uihc moved his robe and revealed a charred face grimacing in painful death. The children still burned so Naruto copied N'uihc and took off his shirt, smothering them and trying to put out the fires, Sakura following suit.

Senjii growled at the men on the platform who were now getting to their feet. The men were ordinary farmers, no longer menacing. In fact if Senjii had to describe their expressions it would be 'extreme dissinterest'. In fact the entire crowd had gone eerily quiet.

Naruto's anger would not be contained though. "Why!?" he bellowed at the men, his rage breaking the surface. His jacket ,singed and blackened with soot lay forgotten on the platform.

No one answered. The wind howled through the village, only being disrupted by the shuffling of feet as the crowd quietly dispersed, heading their separate ways. The men on the platform turned to go as well. Sakura and the two girls were at the edge of the platform where the steps were. Her anger was also barely contained. As one of the men tried to walk past her she grabbed him by the throat, lifted him and slammed him down onto the platform, splintering the wood and sending them crashing through into the dirt below.

The other men looked at that but registered no expression. Naruto grabbed one by the shirt and lifted him. His eyes burned with an inner flame, the pupils turning to slits.

"Why?!" he questioned again. "Why do such a thing?"

The man shrugged. "Strangers wouldn't understand."

Naruto punched him in the stomach. Hard. The man doubled over and coughed up blood. Naruto stood him back upright.

"Tell me!"

The man spit out a gob of blood and tissue. His face still registered nothing.

"Her husband died three days ago. She had no family to care for her or the children. The magistrate granted her petition to die. She begged for it. A quick death is better than what most of us will suffer."

The team from Tengoku stood in shock. Nagi was the first to say anything. "She...asked to be set on fire?"

The man shrugged. "The magistrate decides the method. She was not the first this week. Won't be the last to choose death. Food is scarce. Money to buy it non-existent. I myself have not eaten anything but dead rats in over a week. Her children had not eaten in days. There is nowhere to go but the nothingness after this life."

Naruto held onto the man's shirt his head hanging down. Tears fell from his face.

"Could no one care for them?"

The man shook his head. "Those were the last children in this village. No one wanted to be burdened with those extra mouths to feed."

He shoved the man hard, sending him off the platform. The image of the burning family seared forever into his brain. He looked at Nagi who was ashen. The truth hitting them hard.

Life in the Blood Country was a nightmare.

N'uihc stood off to the side taking in the interactions. He dusted off his coat and folded it over his arm. He studied his students faces, noting the distress they displayed. He was glad they had enough humanity in them to be disturbed by this still. He fervently hoped that the years would never take that from them. He glanced down at the burnt corpse of the woman and her children. Previously he had felt slight anger at such cruelty. Now he felt intense disgust at the entire village for their cowardice. No matter the cruelty of his master, a man who would not choose to live, was not a man. Not one worth living and breeding.

He paid special attention to the reaction of his Tenshikage. Lord Naruto was very emotional. N'uihc had not decided whether that was a good thing or bad thing yet. Time would tell. For now he followed this Lord and neither he nor his students would disappoint.

"Let's get out of here." Nagi said quietly. "This Lord Shisho has more to answer for than I thought."

They all filed out of the village, heading for the road that would take them to the Capitol. They walked in mostly silence until nightfall, making camp in a clearing away from the road. It was a restless night for all. So they noticed when N'uihc disappeared from camp early in the evening. And when he reappeared at the crack of dawn the next day.

"Where did you go Sensei?" Nagi asked, pulling on his boots.

N'uihc shrugged. "Back to that village. Their cowardice offended me."

Naruto, Senji, Nagi, Sakura, Calamity and Hiruka all froze. Naruto was the first to speak. "The men on the platform?"

N'uihc stretched and poured some hot water into a small pouch that Calamity knew was tea. "All of them. They wished for death instead of life." He began walking back to the road to continue their trek. "I felt in a giving mood last night."

Senjii turned to Nagi. "Does he mean what I think he does?"

Nagi and Calamity nodded. "He wiped out that village." Calamity answered quietly. She picked up her small travelling bag and walked after her Sensei. The rest of them followed.

* * *

**Author's note:**

I'm sorry for the long wait. Life gets in the way. I seem to have misplaced my Beta :( Evil Joshua where are you? In the meantime I hope there aren't too many errors in this chapter guys and that the story makes sense. I struggled with some parts of it.

Also, I'm sorry I couldn't bring myself to write over the Kisame clone/Gai fight. The manga got that pretty perfect.

Any questions? I'll answer every one! Hopefully it won't be too many months between the next chapter. Thanks for your patience.


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